Prince of Darkness
by Epic Quest INC
Summary: Kim and Ron discover a gold coffin in a tomb, unknowingly, they unleash a centuries old evil from it's long slumber .
1. Chapter 1 :  Vacations, and Discoveries

**Disclaimer : **We **_DO_** **_NOT_** own the rights to Kim Possible, or any of the characters contained herein, they belong to their respective agencies, the storyline is ours, we make no profit from this .

**Prince of Darkness**

Starring

**Kim Possible**

_**While on a much needed vacation, Kim and Ron accidentally release a centuries old evil from its long slumber, chaos ensues as the undead prince of Darkness returns.**_

**Chapter 1**

**Vacations and Discoveries**

Kim Possible woke up early from a quiet, uneventful sleep, the attractive red haired, green eyed teenager found herself in a foreign room, in a foreign country, her, and her partner, and boyfriend, Ron Stoppable had taken a much needed break from their crime fighting activities, and decided to tour Europe, and so, their travels found them in a sleepy little village in northern Romania, to the north, great mountains loomed on the horizon like huge guardians, and to the south, lay the capitol of Bucharest, the international airport located there, and a plane ticket home, which would be collected in a week .

"Hurry up, Ron; I need to use the bathroom before we go to breakfast this morning." Kim said, hoping that Ron would speed up a little bit.

"Working on it, KP . . . _ouch_, that hurt." came Ron's voice from the bathroom, apparently, he had done something to cause him to cry out in pain.

"What did you do this time, Ron?" Kim asked, knowing that her boyfriend could sometimes be a bit of a klutz, but here lately, it seemed to be more restricted to his home life, rather than on missions, or schoolwork, which he seemed to be excelling in.

"Cut myself shaving." Ron replied, walking out of the bathroom, with a small piece of toilet paper covering what was obviously a razor cut.

"Oh, should I kiss it, and make it all better?" Kim said, in a mock motherly voice.

"Please?" Ron quipped back, bringing a smile to the lithe redhead's face.

"Oh, Ron, you need to get cleaned up, did you forget, we're going hiking in the mountains today." Kim reminded.

"How can I forget, who came up with this venue, anyway, we were supposed to _relax_, remember." Ron said, reminding Kim what the doctor at Global Justice has said to them.

A month and a half prior, Kim and Ron had been spreading themselves very thin indeed, taking mission after mission, until they were exhausted, both physically, and mentally, and it all came to a head during their last mission, when Ron snapped, and took out twenty of Professor Dementor's henchmen by himself, before unleashing a ball of pure energy, and leveling the pint-sized madman's lair, Kim was unaware of what Ron had done, since her mind was busy on other things at the time .

"I know, Ron, but you know how I like to relax, do a little bit of hiking." Kim replied, smiling demurely.

"How can I say no to a face like that." Ron mused, all it took, was for Kim to smile at him, and his heart would melt.

Since the prom, both teens were madly in love with each other, and it seemed to both of them, that the ride had only begun, there were more thrills, and suspense just around the next corner for them, and they knew it, they also knew that the road they were currently on was one where they could get any help from their parents, it was a road they would need to travel alone.

* * *

_In the hotel dining room…_

Kim and Ron were just finishing up their breakfast, when a large, burly man, with a thatch of black hair walked in, sat down at the bar, and ordered a double shot of Vodka, with no chaser.

"Do not tell me that it is that bad today, Ivan?" the bartender asked.

"Terrible, Mikhail has lost another forty sheep, and no one seems to know how." the man named Ivan replied, his accent was eastern European, probably Russian.

"Someone is loosing their sheep?" Kim asked, turning her head around, and becoming more interested in the conversation.

"Yes, it is problem that we suffer, I am sure that we will find parties responsible, and bring to them swift justice." Ivan said, now looking at Kim.

"Where did he loose them at?" Kim asked.

"Mikhail likes to set sheep in pasture lands in mountains, just north of village." Ivan replied.

"We're going up in the mountains today; we plan to do some hiking, and a little exploring up there." Kim replied, just as another large man, with wild straw colored hair walked in.

"It would be wise of you to not go up into mountains, young one." the man said, also speaking in a thick Russian accent.

"Why?" Kim asked, her interest, and curiosity beginning to peak.

"Because, is dangerous up in mountains, people go up there, and never come back down." the man replied.

"Mikhail, that is enough, I am sure these people do not wish to be entertained by local legends, and old fairy tales." Ivan chastised, looking at the man he called Mikhail.

"I tell you, Ivan, Prince of Darkness is no legend, please try to explain disappearance of my sheep?" Mikhail asked.

"You know that I cannot, my friend, go home, maybe sheep will find way back on their own, yes?" Ivan replied.

"Perhaps, perhaps not, but let me warn you, my American friends, do not go near ruins of castle in mountains." Mikhail said, now leaving the inn.

"Please to forgive my friend, Mikhail, he is, how you Americans say, a _doomsayer_." Ivan said, now pulling up a chair at Kim and Ron's table.

"How so…?" Ron asked.

"Mikhail believes in old legends of castle ruins in mountains, it is said to be home of dark evil." Ivan replied.

"How evil?" Kim asked, arching an eyebrow.

"It is evil like world has not seen in several centuries, if you believe such nonsense, of course, yes?" Ivan responded.

"What, like ghosts, restless spirits?" Ron asked, slightly amused.

"Something like that, my friend, perhaps Ivan will show you, yes?" Ivan asked, looking at Kim and Ron.

"What, you mean like a guide?" Kim asked.

"Yes, I mean like guide, mountains can be very dangerous place without guide, and Ivan is man for you." Ivan replied, puffing out his chest like a great bird in the middle of mating season.

"Maybe we could use a guide, Ron, I mean, we've never been in this area before, and those mountains do look like they can be a little dangerous." Kim replied.

"Oh, come on, Kim, you've climbed Mt. Everest twice, what else could possibly be dangerous." Ron asked, the use of Kim's name seemed to have an effect on Ivan, who's eyes rounded, and his ears perked up.

"You are Kim Possible, no ?" he asked, looking at Kim with the look of a two year old who had just been told that he won a lifetime supply of candy,

"Yeah, that's me, and this is my partner, and boyfriend, Ron Stoppable." Kim replied, gesturing at Ron, Ivan greeted Ron with an enthusiastic handshake, and smiled.

"I am Ivan Nikoliavitch, and I am here to serve, no?" Ivan replied. Kim nodded, got out of her chair, and extended her hand to Ivan, who kissed the knuckles on her hand very deftly,

"I must say, you are much better looking in person than picture on internet shows." Ivan said, smiling.

"I'm flattered." Kim said, smiling, and walking for the lobby of the small inn.

"Where are you going?" Ivan asked,

"I need to get changed; we'll meet you in the lobby in a few minutes, Ivan." Kim said, turning, and heading back to the room, there was no way she was going to wear brand new Club Banana Capri pants into the mountain wilderness, and run a risk of tearing them a thousand miles from nowhere .

* * *

_In the mountains…_

Kim and Ron had hiked most of the afternoon, with Ivan leading the way, occasionally, they would stop, as Ivan told them stories of things that had happened at certain times, he was a wealth of information, soon, it was mid-afternoon, and they were approaching the ruins of what was once a majestic castle, the walls, and battlements long since eroded away with time, the few buildings left standing, were what appeared to be the main building, a small chapel in the rear of the fortress, and another, small building off to the right of the chapel, twin spires jutted upward through the night sky like a pair of beacons.

"Wow, who would expect a castle this far up in the mountains?" Ron asked in amazement.

"That is probably why person that lived there built it, natural defenses made it nearly invulnerable, no?" Ivan said, smiling. He had a valid point, as the castle looked down over the village. You could see the small town hall near the village square from this height, there was no way that an invading army could have an element of surprise.

"Is there any way of finding out who lived here, Ivan?" Kim asked.

"No," Ivan replied, "Village records were destroyed during World War II, impossible to find castle owners, or, how long castle stood."

"So, there's no way of finding out who owned the castle, or the surrounding grounds?" Kim asked.

"No, but I can tell you this, during middle ages, area we are standing in was once part of Transylvania." Ivan said.

"Okay, moving along." Kim said, apparently unfazed at this, her interest was peaked by the cathedral near the rear of what was once the castle cloisters, and the small building to its right.

"What do you think that small building is there?" Kim asked, pointing out the small marble building,

"Could be anything, perhaps small graveyard, maybe mausoleum, do not know, have never been up here for very long." Ivan replied.

"Why not…?" Kim asked, for answer, Ivan pointed to a small sign, it was written in German, so, Kim was unable to read it.

"Okay, Ron, you're on." Kim said, pointing to the sign.

"The sign reads; _Warning, ruins unsafe past this point, enter at your own risk_." Ron translated. Kim smiled, she was no great hand at languages, so it helped to have Ron around, his grasp of the spoken, and written word were unbelievable, he spoke, and wrote nearly every language that was spoken on the face of the Earth, including several languages that had been long since dead.

"I'm gonna check it out." Kim said.

"I'm coming with you." Ron responded, following Kim to the small white marble structure, Ivan was hot on their heels.

"Wow, there's a door here." Kim said, now standing in front of the small building.

"It is mausoleum, it was common practice for rich to be buried on ancestral lands, that is reason you find mausoleums near old castles, like this one." Ivan said.

"Investigate?" Kim asked, looking at Ron,

"You know it, KP." Ron said, smiling, and together, they were able to move the heavy steel door that closed the mausoleum off, once they got inside, they got the shock of their lives, all around, there were several skeletons, most of them had on Nazi uniforms.

"This isn't right; those uniforms date back to Nazi Germany." Kim said, scratching her head.

"They do, apparently, Hitler took interest in castle too, but Nazi soldiers never came out alive." Ivan said.

"Wait a minute, what's that?" Ron said, pointing to a corner of the mausoleum, and what appeared to be a gold alter.

"An alter, and it's solid gold!" Kim said, rapping on it with her knuckles.

"Not an alter, KP." Ron said, suddenly getting a sick feeling, he had found a break in the gold monolith, that ran its entire length.

"What do you mean, not an alter, Ron?" Kim asked, puzzled.

"It is not alter," Ivan said, echoing Ron, "it is coffin."

"A coffin, come on, who would be that vain as to be buried in a gold coffin." Kim said.

"You tell me, I have no clue." Ron said, shaking his head.

"This is huge archeological find, never before has gold coffin been found in Romania." Ivan said.

"The Middleton Museum would pay handsomely for this one." Kim said, looking at Ivan.

"Why look at Ivan, you are one that found it." Ivan said.

"Because she's figuring out a way for you to get the money, Ivan." Ron said, smiling.

"Ivan does not need it." Ivan replied, smiling.

"Well, now we need to figure a way off this mountain." Kim said, looking down the mountain, and sighing.

"Leave that to me, KP." Ron said, smiling.

* * *

We do not own Kim Possible

Doug4422

&

Dragonmaster4381

a.k.a. Epic Quest INC .


	2. Chapter 2 :  Strange Goings On

**Chapter 2**

**Strange Goings On**

It had been about a week since Kim and Ron arrived home, their first order of business was to unload the coffin onto the Middleton museum .

"It's pretty much one-of-a-kind, Professor Johnson, I've never seen anything like it ." Kim remarked.

"True, I'll place it into the new acquisitions area, until we can get a better feel for it ." Professor Johnson replied, smiling, this wasn't the first time that Kim had given something over to the museum.

"Okay, I'll be here when you plan to unveil it ." Kim replied, walking off, with Ron in tow, he looked back at the coffin one more time with a shiver, before catching up with Kim, and expressing his concerns.

"That coffin is a thousand miles of bad road, KP ." he said, still shivering.

"Ron, you're letting your mind get the better of you, this is not a B horror movie, this is real life, there's nothing in there that can hurt anyone ." Kim replied, shaking her head.

"That we know of ." Ron replied, rather quietly, he really didn't feel like hearing Kim talking about how things just couldn't happen in life, even though he was a walking example on how life has a strange sense of humor .

So, it was later that afternoon, that Kim and Ron sat down in their favorite booth at Bueno Nacho, and relaxed with their usual Naco Night orders.

"Man, I am so glad that they brought back Naco Night, this is the best, KP ." Ron said, setting down in front of his usual four trays full of food .

"Yeah, I get to watch you transform into garbage gut again, wonderful ." Kim said, with a slight bite of sarcasm in her voice .

"Hey, I'm a growing boy ." Ron said, his mouth half full of Nacos .

"Swallow before you talk, Ron, please ." Kim said, looking slightly repulsed.

"Sorry, KP, but I'm still telling you that there's something out of place about that coffin ." Ron said again, making Kim roll her eyes.

"Still with the coffin, Ron, you sound like a broken record ." Kim commented.

"Trust me, Kim, something bad is gonna go down ." Ron replied, dropping the conversation at that .

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the Middleton museum :_

The noticeable greenish tint near the new acquisitions wing was not what would first shock anyone that saw it, but the appearance of a beautiful raven haired woman, standing next to a blue skinned man dressed in a blue lab coat .

"Of all of your hair brained ideas, this one has got to top the list, Dr. D. " the woman said, looking at her boss, Dr. Drakken, with a frown on her face.

"Once we steal this gold coffin, I can use the money to finance my latest scheme designed at revenge against Kim Possible ." Drakken said with a laugh.

"I'm gonna put this one in the '_failed_' category right now ." Shego replied, a slight smirk to her face.

"Put a ham in, wiseacre, this one will work this time ." Drakken said.

"And how do you plan to fence this, it's not like Kimmie's not going to notice it's missing, she's the one that found it ." Shego commented.

"Well, that'll be taken care of . . . _ouch_ !" Drakken exclaimed, he had cut his hand on a sharp corner of the coffin, the cut had drawn blood almost immediately.

"See what I mean ." Shego said, still just as sarcastically.

"Whatever ." Drakken commented, feeling as though there had to be an easier way of getting his prize out of the museum .

At that time, the coffin lid opened widely, spewing smoke out of it.

"What the . . ." Drakken said, turning around, and looking at the coffin.

"O-Kay, Dr. D., this is starting to creep me out ." Shego commented, as Drakken turned to look back at her.

"If you think that is creepy, then stick around, my dear ." came a voice that neither of the evil beings in the room recognized, it had a heavy German accent to it.

"Did you say that, Dr. D. ?" Shego asked, looking at her boss, her face had fear etched deep into it.

"Not me . . ." Drakken said, he was unable to finish what he said, as two chalk white hands grabbed him, and a head appeared out of the smoke, he was white as death, with jet black hair, tinted grey around the temples, and just over top of the ears.

"Breakfast in bed . . . how nice ." the man said, sinking three inch long fangs into Drakken's neck, just above the collar bone, the scientist screamed out in pain, his screams were drowned out by the screams of fear from his sidekick, as she watched her boss have his very life force drained from his body.

"And freshly squeezed at that . . . now, you were saying about creepy, my dear ?" the man said, walking out of the coffin, with blood still dripping off his fangs, and down his chin.

"Who . . . no . . . **_WHAT_** are you ?" Shego asked, backing away in horror.

"I am the Prince of Darkness . . . I am Count Dracula, btu you may call me Alucard, my dear ." the centuries old father of all vampires said, walking slowly toward Shego .

"And I am unimpressed ." Shego said, firing off a plasma blast at her target.

"My dear, you cannot kill that which is already dead ." Dracula said, still walking toward her.

"Ever see a human move faster than light before ?" Shego asked, and with that, she took off so fast, that Dracula had no time to react to her movements.

"Oh . . . and I was hoping for a spot of desert . . . oh, well, I guess I can always dine out tonight ." he said, and with that, he disappeared into the shadows, abandoning his coffin, and the dead body of Dr. Drakken on the floor of the museum .

* * *

_The following morning :_

Kim and Ron had gone to Bueno Nacho for their usual Saturday afternoon lunch, they were sitting in their favorite booth when Ron noticed that Kim wasn't eating .

"Uhh . . . KP . . . you gonna eat your chimmerito ?" Ron asked.

"Something's bugging me, Ron ." Kim said.

"You don't say ?" Ron shot back with a bite of sarcasm in his voice.

"Well, we find a gold coffin, and Drakken doesn't show up to steal it to finance some take over the world scheme, this is just too weird ." Kim said, her fingers placed under her chin.

"I don't know, maybe Drakken's decided to take some time off, you know, to rethink his life, we did bust him pretty hard the night of the prom ." Ron explained.

"Yeah, but . . ." Kim said, she was unable to finish her sentence, as the Kimmunicator sounded it's familiar beeping tones.

"What's the sitch, Wade ." Kim asked.

"Murder at the Middleton museum, Kim ." Wade said.

"Who bought it, buddy ?" Ron asked.

"Drakken ." Wade replied, to the stunned faces of Kim and Ron.

"How ?" Kim asked.

"Exsanguination ." Wade said.

"English, please, Wade ." Ron said.

"He was drained of every drop of his blood ." Wade replied.

"**_EEW . . . SICK AND WRONG !_**" Ron shouted.

"Where was his body found ?" Kim asked.

"The new acquisitions, near that coffin you brought back ." Wade replied, making Ron's features fall somewhat.

"We're on it, Wade ." Kim said, pocketing the device, and walking for the door.

"I told you that thing was a thousand miles of bad road, KP ." Ron said, reminding her of what he had said a million times since they had returned home.

"Whatever, come on, let's go check it out ." Kim replied, as she headed for the parking lot, and Ron's souped up Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 .

* * *

_At the new acquisitions wing of the Middleton museum :_

Kim was looking around for clues, while Ron was talking to Professor Johnson, the museum curator.

"So, when did you find the body ?" Ron asked.

"When I got back here to take inventory, I found it lying right where it is now ." Professor Johnson replied, his face blanching somewhat at the scene before him, the sun was hanging low in the sky, which meant that sundown was only a few minutes away.

"Ron, I found some writing on the coffin lid ." Kim said, motioning for Ron.

"What is it, KP ?" Ron asked as he examined the coffin lid, and saw writing, etched deep into the heavy gold lid of the coffin.

"What language is that ?" Kim asked, looking at Ron.

"German ." Ron replied.

"What's it say ?" Kim asked, she watched, as Ron's face drained of all color, he read the coffin lid, in a hoarse, scared voice.

"Nosfaratu ." he said, without any emotion in his voice at all.

"Translate, please ?" Kim asked.

"Loose translation ?" Ron asked.

"Please, and thank you ." Kim replied.

"Vampire ." Ron replied .

* * *

_We **DO NOT** own Kim Possible, or Dracula_

_**Doug4422**_

_and_

_**Dragonmaster4381**_

_**a.k.a. Epic Quest INC** ._


	3. Chapter 3 :  When The Going Gets Tough

**Chapter 3**

**When The Going Gets Tough **

_**Twilight Zone**_

_By _**_Golden Earring_**

_(Talking) Somewhere in a lonely hotel room, there's a guy startin' to realize that eternal fate has turned it's back on him_ _. . . it's two a.m._,

_It's two a.m. (It's two a.m.)_

_The fear is gone (fear is gone)_

_I'm sittin' here waitin' (sittin' here waitin'_)

_The gun's still warm, (gun still warm)_

_Maybe my connection is tired of takin' chances,_

_Yeah, there's a storm on the loose,_

_Sirens in my head,_

_Wrapped up in silence, all circuits are dead,_

_Cannot decode,_

_My whole life spins into a frenzy,_

_Help, I'm steppin' into the twilight zone,_

_Place is a madhouse, it feels like being cloned,_

_My beacon's been moved under moon and star,_

_Where am I to go, now that I've gone too far (Oh whoa oh_)

_Help, I'm steppin' into the twilight zone,_

_Place is a madhouse, it feels like being cloned,_

_My beacon's been moved under moon and star,_

_Where am I to go now that I've gone too far,_

_So you will come to know,_

_When the bullet hits the bone,_

_So you will come to know,_

_When the bullet hits the bone,_

_Now, I'm fallin' down the spiral,_

_Destination unknown,_

_Double-crossed messenger, all alone,_

_Can't get no connection, can't get through,_

_Where are you,_

_Well, the night weighs heavy on his guilty mind,_

_This far from the border line,_

_But when the hitman comes,_

_He knows damned well he has been cheated_, _and he says,_

_Help, I'm steppin' into the twilight zone,_

_Place is a madhouse, it feels like being cloned,_

_My beacon's been moved under moon and star,_

_Where do I go, now that I've gone too far (Oh whoa oh)_

_Help, I'm steppin' into the twilight zone,_

_Place is a madhouse, it feels like being cloned,_

_My beacon's been moved under moon and star,_

_Where do I go, now that I've gone too far,_

_So you will come to know, _

_When the bullet hits the bone,_

_So you will come to know,_

_When the bullet hits the bone,_

_When the bullet hits the bone ._

"You've got to be joking, Ron ." Kim said, unbelieving what Ron just said,

"I kid you not, KP, the translation, loose translation, anyway, means vampire ." Ron replied, his face set in stone,

"What's the actual translation, Ron ?" Kim asked,

"Dark fang ." Ron replied, looking out the window, watching the sun slip behind the mountains, neither of them saw Drakken's hand twitch,

"That's not any better ." Kim replied, her face set into a frown,

"Yeah, well, I did a little digging, Kim, and I came up with some interesting documents about those ruins from the Munich Hall of Records ." Ron said,

"Munich, how did documents from a village in Romania, end up in Munich, Germany ?" Kim asked, again, not watching, as Drakken's hand twitched, a little more violently this time,

"Remember the skeletons of the Nazi soldiers we saw there ?" Ron asked,

"Yeah ." Kim replied, prompting Ron to keep going,

"Well, I decided to look outside of Romania, and I didn't exactly like what I found ." Ron said, his pallor becoming even more white,

"Go on ." Kim said,

"Apparently, that castle belonged to the family Dracula, it was the hideaway of Count Dracula, Kim, the Prince of Darkness himself ." Ron said,

"So, you're saying that some mythical vampire is alive, and well in Middleton ?" Kim asked, still not believing Ron, who had become even more adamant,

"Did you look at Drakken's neck, KP ?" Ron asked,

"Yeah, there were a couple of puncture marks there, on the right side, deep ones too, and his hand was cut ." Kim said,

"Do you know what it takes to revive the count from ashes ?" Ron asked again,

"No ." Kim said, her lips forced into a frown again,

"Blood, and it doesn't take much of it, only a drop will do ." Ron said,

"I'm sorry, Ron, I just have a hard time believing this, I'm willing to bet that this is all some elaborate hoax, cooked up by the real killer ." Kim said, turning around at the same time as Ron, just in time to see another twitch from Drakken's hand,

"Did you see that, Kim ?" Ron said,

"See what ?" Kim asked,

"Drakken's hand, it moved ." Ron replied, his face losing all color to it,

"Trick of the light, you're obsessed, Ron ." Kim said, turning to look out the window again, Ron took a quick glance, and walked behind Kim, placing his arms around her shoulders,

"Sundown, you know, I almost wonder . . ." Ron said, but he didn't have time to finish, a loud growling, followed by an even louder hissing noise grabbed both their attention, causing the teenagers to turn on their heels, what they saw, could put the fear of God into any normal man .

Drakken was sitting upright, three inch long fangs protruded from his upper line of teeth, and just past his bottom lip, his face had lost it's blue tint, and was replaced instead with a chalk white pallor, he looked like walking death itself,

"Blood . . . must . . . have . . . **_BLOOD !_**" Drakken screamed, Eyes glowing bright crimson.

"Kim . . . **_GET OUT OF THE WAY !_**" Ron screamed, pushing Kim to the floor, and jumping in front of her, Kim lost her balance, fell to the floor, and looked at Ron, stunned at what she saw .

Ron was standing in front of her in a protective stance, he looked ready to kill, there was an intense blue light coming from his body, and, in his left hand, was an ancient, and elaborate Japanese katana, The Lotus Blade had come to its master, Ron's powers had finally, fully awakened,

"What's up, blood sucker ?" Ron taunted, waving his hand at the undead madman,

"I . . . need . . . **_BLOOD !_**" Drakken screamed louder,

"Not today, death breath ." Ron said, snapping into a stance similar to something Kim saw only in movies, the sword was over top of Ron's head, and his right arm was held out in front of him, palm down, the concentration on his face was unreal, and Kim could see his eyes, glowing ice blue in color, with no visible pupils, he looked almost demonic, scary, his long, shoulder length blonde hair was whipping around, as though caught in a high wind, even though they were in a building, and no windows were opened,

"**_DIE !_**" Drakken suddenly screamed, charging at Ron, who suddenly got a nasty looking smirk on his face .

A few seconds later, the two were tangled up in a deadly dance that Kim had never seen come from Ron . She watched in horror as three inch long claws appeared on Drakken's hands, slicing through the heavy black gloves he always wore .

"Well, a challenge, me like ." Ron said, twirling The Lotus blade, and dropping back into a stance .

Drakken charged once more, and this time, his claws hit their intended mark, cutting through Ron's new battle suit, and tearing the flesh underneath of it wide open,

"That . . . stung ." Ron commented, standing up, Kim was horror struck, Ron was standing up, his wounds plainly visible, yet there was no blood from them.

Drakken charged at Ron again, who rolled out of his way, leaving Kim exposed, she watched, in complete horror, as Drakken began stalking toward her, looking for an easy victim, his face was inches away from her neck, when the white, steel-toed boot on Ron's left foot came into contact with Drakken's jaw, sending the undead madman hurtling across the remaining length of the room,

"**_EAT LEATHER, FANG FACE !_**" Ron hollered, back on his feet, and dropped low to the floor in a battle stance .

Kim was dealt another severe blow to her world, when she watched the livid bruise that the boot left on Drakken's cheek heal right in front of her eyes,

"Time to finish this . . . **_BRING IT !_**" Ron shouted, looking at Drakken, who wiped his mouth with his free hand, and smiled evilly at Ron .

Drakken charged again, but this time, Ron was ready for him . Before Kim could even think, Ron had driven The Lotus Blade to the hilt into Drakken's waist, then, like an expert gymnast, he flipped over the undead madman, with the handle of the sword still in his hands, effectively cutting Drakken's torso in two, lengthwise, he quickly pulled the sword out of Drakken's body, flipped it around in his hand, and took a big swipe at Drakken's neck, his head came off cleanly .

"Dust, anyone ?" Ron said, watching Drakken's body explode into ash in front of his eyes .

Ron walked up to Kim, who had tucked her knees up to her chin, and was rocking back and forth, she appeared to be heavily rattled by what she had seen,

"You alright, KP, you seem a little shook up ?" Ron asked,

"Ron, what was that ?" Kim said, her voice shaky,

"Drakken was turned, Kim, he was a vampire, a servant of the undead Prince of Darkness himself ." Ron replied, looking at the pile of ashes that was once Dr. Drakken, and watching them blow away into nothingness .

"Ron . . . I'm scared ." Kim said, holding onto Ron like she never wanted to let go,

"Well, I'd consider you a damned fool if you weren't ." Ron replied,

"What's the next move ?" Kim asked, meekly,

"Well, we got two choices, pray that the pictures we took in that mausoleum come out well enough so they can be read, or, I go back to Romania, and read the hieroglyphs on the walls myself ." Ron replied,

"No . . . please . . . don't go back to Romania, Ron, I don't want to be alone ." Kim said, turning her head into Ron's chest, she was positively shaking in fear,

"Well, I mean, you can come with, it's not like you won't be needed ." Ron said, he was trying everything to get Kim's head in the game,

"No, I don't want to go back there ." Kim said, her voice shaking in fear,

"Kim . . . head in the game, I can **_NOT_** do this on my own ." Ron said, raising his voice, this got Kim's attention quickly .

She nodded her head, and smiled a meek smile,

"Come on, Kim, let's get out of here ." Ron said, taking Kim's hand, and leading her out of the museum, and into the parking lot, where Ron's car, a jet black 1965 Oldsmobile Cutlass 4-4-2 sat, waiting for him,

"Ron, stay with me, please, I don't want to be alone ." Kim said, looking at Ron with those big green eyes, eyes that were currently full of fear,

"Are you sure ?" Ron asked, looking at Kim, who was still shaking in fear,

"Yes . . . I . . . I don't want to be . . . alone . . . tonight ." Kim said,

"Gimme a minute, and we'll get moving ." Ron said, his face taking on a pained expression, Kim was again stunned into shock, as the deep cuts on Ron's chest began healing in front of her eyes, when it was finished, Ron slumped into his seat behind the wheel, and began breathing heavily,

"Okay, I'll take the couch in the den ." Ron said, wearily, turning the engine over, and pulling out of the parking lot .

* * *

_Back at the Possible home :_

Ron was studying the pictures that were taken in the mausoleum, he was reading the cartouches on the walls, his face full of concentration,

"KP . . . take a look at this ." Ron said, jerking Kim out of her thoughts of what had happened at the museum,

"What is it ?" Kim asked, now peering over Ron's shoulder,

"See that cartouche, right there ?" Ron replied, pointing to a drawing of what appeared to be a bat,

"Yeah, I remember you saying that it was kinda spooky at the time, being in a mausoleum ." Kim recalled,

"Yeah . . . I had no idea what it meant at the time, now, I do, this is telling us how to beat big, dead, and fanged ." Ron replied,

"Enlighten me, please ." Kim said, looking over Ron's shoulder,

"Well . . . according to legend . . . there's two ways to kill a vampire ." Ron said,

"Yeah . . . direct exposure to sunlight, and a wooden steak through the heart ." Kim said, remembering the tales of vampire legend,

"Yeah, well according to this, direct exposure to sunlight doesn't work . . . unfortunately, there's two ways to kill a vamp, but they're very brutal ." Ron explained,

"How so ?" Kim asked,

"Well, if I'm reading this right, the only ways he can die are by a wooden steak through the heart, which can kill just about anything, and something that's guaranteed to kill every time out . . . decapitation ." Ron said, his tone deadpan, and his face very serious . Kim knew to take him at his word, the look on his face was one that she had only ever seen him use twice . . . once at Camp Wannaweep, when Gill had trapped the cheer squad there, and the other, atop Bueno Nacho headquarters, when he had Drakken backed into a corner .

"Sunlight has no effect on him ?" Kim said, her eyes glazed over slightly,

"Unfortunately, no, it does have an effect on a normal vampire, since Dracula doesn't share that knowledge with his underlings ." Ron admitted,

"How did you know what to do at the museum, Ron . . . I know that you're into the occult, and you've watched a ton of horror movies, but this was real life, how did you know what to do ?" Kim asked,

"Well . . . I'm not what you'd consider a normal human ." Ron said, once again lighting his body up in a blue aura,

"What the . . ." Kim said, jumping out of her seat, and backing away in fear,

"I'm not gonna hurt you, KP . . . remember my Mystical Monkey Power ?" Ron commented, Kim nodded, never taking her eyes off Ron,

"Well . . . it's kinda active, and I'm kind of a "_chosen one_," are you getting all of this ?" Ron asked,

"Yeah . . . this is too much to take in at once ." Kim said, placing a hand to her forehead, and shaking her head, she stopped quickly, the headache she had gained since the incident at the museum was throbbing worse than ever,

"Sorry, Kim, I didn't realize just how powerful it was going to be until tonight ." Ron said,

"Yeah . . . I . . . I'm going to bed, Ron . . . good night ." Kim said, adding the last two words rather meekly,

"Alright, KP . . . you got me . . . I'll sleep in your room tonight, but it'll be on the floor ." Ron replied, causing Kim to jump into his arms, and give him a mind numbing kiss,

"You'd do that for me ?" Kim asked,

"You'd do the same if it was me, wouldn't you ?" Ron asked,

"Yeah ." Kim added with a nod,

"Go on ahead . . . I'll be up in a couple of minutes ." Ron said, placing a gentle kiss on Kim's forehead, and watching her walk up the stairs to her attic bedroom .

'_God . . . give me strength . . . I'm going to need it on this one ._' Ron thought to himself, as he stowed the pictures away in his windbreaker, and walked for the stairway leading to the second floor of the Possible home .

* * *

_We _**_DO NOT_**_ own Kim Possible, or Count Dracula ._

_**Doug4422**_

_**and**_

_**Dragonmaster4381**_

_a.k.a. _**_Epic Quest INC._**


	4. Chapter 4 :  Severe Weirdness

**Chapter 4**

**Severe Weirdness**

Kim woke up early the next morning, to find Ron the way she last saw him, looking out the window, still wide awake,

"Ron, did you stay up all night ?" Kim asked, looking at her boyfriend, even though she didn't have to ask, the huge bags under his eyes gave it away,

"Yeah ." Ron replied . Kim smiled widely .

"You did that for me ?" She asked,

"Yeah . . . you'd do the same if the roles were reversed, wouldn't you ?" Ron asked, looking at Kim .

"You know I would, Ron ." Kim said, smiling a sweet smile, Ron had a habit of being so kind hearted at times .

"Well, we'd better get going, KP . . . school starts in like ten minutes ." Ron said, smiling at Kim,

"Okay . . . give me a second ." Kim said, diving into her closet, and coming out later in her usual trademark green cropped tank top, and blue capri pants, she then hurried down to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and cleaned up somewhat, before heading for the door, Ron following close behind her at every step .

* * *

_Middleton High School, that morning :_

Kim and Ron arrived at their lockers five minutes before the start of class, and quickly got their books for their first period Chem Class, Kim was still on edge about what had happened last night, and every little sudden movement made her jump,

"Amp down, KP . . . you're as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs ." Ron pointed out, knowing what Kim was so jumpy about .

"Sorry, Ron . . . it's just . . . what happened at the museum has kind of put me on edge ." Kim replied .

"Really . . . I never would've guessed ." Ron said with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice .

"Okay, Ron, be sarcastic about it, but it's not every day that the dead rise from their graves, you know ." Kim said, in a low tone,

"Stick around, Kim . . . something tells me the fun has only started ." Ron replied, a very serious look to his face, which seemed to be happening a lot within the last twelve hours,

"Yeah . . . just what I didn't need to hear ." Kim said, still working on a chemical composition they were working on at the moment .

As the day wore on, it seemed that strange things were happening all over the place, Kim was noticing that signs went up announcing that the cheer regionals were pushed forward approximately four days, leaving the squad only three days to perfect their new routine,

"As if I didn't have enough to worry about, now I got to deal with the fact that Lowerton might completely demolish us this year ." Kim said through clenched teeth,

"Take it easy, Kimbo, you're gonna pop your top if you keep going on like this ." Ron said, looking sideways at Kim, who's face was starting to match her hair .

"I guess you're right, Ron . . . I need to relax a little ." Kim replied, smiling a very lopsided smile .

At lunch, things seemed to be going well, but talk soon found its way onto the events of last night .

"Ron . . . that really scared me to the core ." Kim said, shivering from what she remembered from last night,

"Well, like I said . . . I'd consider you a damned fool if you weren't, it's not everyday that you come face-to-fang with the results of a legend, KP ." Ron replied .

"Yeah . . . don't remind me ." Kim said, again, shivering as though someone doused her in ice cold water .

It was at that time, Kim's bitter rival, Bonnie Rockwaller sauntered up, with Kim and Ron's best friend, Monique Wilson in tow .

"Hey, K, Ronnie, mind if I sit down ?" Bonnie asked, as Monique took a seat next to Ron, which was unusual for her, as she normally took the seat next to Kim,

"What's your damage, Bon-Bon ?" Ron asked, normally, he never rose to Bonnie, and the barbs, and insults she always threw their way, but there was something different this time,

"Something wrong, Ron, I just wanted to sit down ." Bonnie said, now standing some from the seat she had taken across from Ron,

"I didn't say you couldn't sit down . . . but the only time you're nice to us is when you want something, what is it this time ?" Ron asked, Kim had to think that Ron had a valid point, the only times that Bonnie had ever been nice to her and Ron were the times when she wanted something from them, and it usually ended up with one, or both of them getting embarrassed .

"I don't want anything, I just want to sit down, and eat my lunch . . . is that a crime all of a sudden ?" Bonnie asked,

"Sure . . . go ahead, but please, keep me out of your fashion talk, Bon-Bon . . . I still haven't gotten over what you pulled on me the last time ." Ron said, remembering that Bonnie had replaced his Mad Dog costume with a some kind of weird costume that ripped away if Ron made just the right move . Unfortunately, it ended up taking the rest of his clothes with it at the same time, leaving him stripped down to his boxers,

"Oh, that . . . Come on, Ronnie . . . I only meant it as a joke . . . besides, no one got hurt ." Bonnie said,

"Yeah . . . but I also seem to remember that no one in the arena at the time thought it was funny either ." Ron recalled,

"Okay, okay, I get the hint . . . I'm sorry . . . happy now ?" Bonnie asked,

"I'd be happier if you took a long walk off a short pier ." Ron said, low enough for only Kim and Monique to hear, this brought a smile to Kim's face, and a stony expression from Monique, both of whom, Ron noticed seemed a little . . . off color, paler than normal,

"We got cheer practice tonight ?" Bonnie asked, looking at Kim,

"You know we do, Bonnie . . . after school, don't be late, we got three days to get this new routine perfected, or we're gonna get toasted by Lowerton, and I, for one, don't wish to break a Middleton High tradition, one that we've had for the last three years ." Kim said, reminding Bonnie that Lowerton's cheer squad had not won a regional against Middleton in three years,

"I hear you on that one, K . . . I'll be there ." Bonnie said, getting up from the table, at the same time, Ron went rigid in his seat as Bonnie passed him, his eyes flashed a bright blue for a few seconds, long enough for Kim to notice,

"Ron . . . your eyes just turned blue . . . what's going on ?" Kim asked, Monique was still present at the table, and suddenly turned to look at Ron,

"Trick of the light, Kim, his eyes are the same color they've always been ." Monique said, but as soon as she turned to look forward, again, Ron went rigid in his chair, and his eyes flashed blue,

"Later, KP ." he said in a low voice that only Kim could hear .

When Monique left, Ron turned, and looked at Kim with a very serious expression on his face,

"Looks like our fanged friend has been kinda busy ." Ron commented, as he watched Monique and Bonnie's forms retreat into the crowd,

"You mean . . . . they were . . ." Kim said, looking kind of scared,

"Yeah, Kim . . . that's exactly what I mean ." Ron finished,

"How do you know ?" Kim asked,

"Caught flashes of their memories, it's a kind of danger sense, if you will, it's mixed in with my powers ." Ron explained,

"As long as you tell me you're not telepathic, we'll be golden ." Kim said,

"_Well . . . actually ._" rang a voice inside of Kim's head that sounded just like Ron's,

"**_EEP !_**" Kim shouted, looking over at Ron,

"Keep it down or you'll get me busted ." Ron chastised, a frown on his face,

"_C . . . can you . . . hear . . . me ?_" Kim thought,

"_Well, duh ._" Ron responded mentally, a broad smile on his face,

"This is just too weird ." Kim said aloud,

"Stick around, girl, I have a funny feeling that it's going to get weirder ." Ron said,

It was only a few minutes later in Latin class, that Ron sat down in his usual seat behind Kim, when he looked to his right, and saw Crystal and Marcella, two members of the cheer squad, both of whom are naturally dark complected, but today, they both looked almost like walking death . Quickly, Ron scribbled out a note, and tossed it over Kim's shoulder, so that it came to rest on her open textbook .

Kim grabbed the letter, and was about ready to stuff it in her pocket, when she read the front of it :

_**Open, and read now . . . URGENT !**_

She quickly opened it, and began to read :

_Check out Crystal, and Marcella . . . do they look a little . . . off . . . to you ?_

Kim turned to look at her fellow cheer squad members, and noticed that Ron was right, they did look pale, and they were among the darkest skinned on the squad . Ever so slowly, Kim turned back to Ron, and nodded her head .

"_I thought so . . . something tells me that fang boy has really been busy ._" Ron commented mentally, like before, this had the same reaction,

"**_EEP !_**" Kim shouted,

"Keep it down, KP . . . don't blow it for me ." Ron said, low enough for only Kim to hear,

"_I'm sending you my therapist bill after this ._" Kim thought,

"_Ha, ha . . . very funny, KP . . . it is to laugh ._" came Ron's mental reply,

"_Well, how would you expect me to feel with you suddenly talking to me . . . _**_IN MY HEAD !_**" Kim thought,

"_Think on it later, KP . . . homework inbound ._" was the response that Kim got from Ron, just as the teacher, Mr. Schneider, turned to the class,

"Tonight's homework will involve the phrases '_Caveat Emptor_,' and a line that the Apostle Peter is said to have spoken to Jesus '_Quo Vadis Domine_,' both will be due in tomorrow before the start of class, that is all ."

"_Told you_ ." Ron commented mentally,

"_So now you can read people's thoughts ?_" Kim asked,

"_Duh . . . I _**_AM_**_ a telepath _." Ron reminded her,

"_Can you pick up mental images too ?_" Kim asked, a sudden smirk coming over her face,

"_Yeah, and the images I'm getting from you are about to put me into shock, KP . . . maybe later, but right now . . . let's focus, shall we ?_" Ron replied,

"_Well . . . try this one on for size, lover boy ._" Kim said, her smirk getting wider,

"**_KI-II-IM !_**" Ron exclaimed, getting a mental picture of the girls shower room in his head

"_Well, that ought to teach you to come into my mind unannounced ._" Kim replied, sending one last image to Ron

"_KP . . . are you _**_TRYING_**_ to put my brain into vapor lock ?_" Ron asked, as a picture of Kim's mother, stepping out of the shower hit his mind,

"_Maybe . . . why ?_" Kim replied,

"We'll discuss your perverted thoughts later ." Ron said, now taking Kim's hand in his, and walking for the door, his girlfriend at his side .

* * *

_We DO NOT own any of the characters in this story_

_**Doug4422**_

_and_

_**Dragonmaster4381**_

_a.k.a. _**_Epic Quest INC_**


	5. Chapter 5 :  Low Blows, and Bad Moves

**Chapter 5**

**Low Blows, and Bad Moves**

_**The Living Years **_

_by _**_Mike + The Mechanics_**

_Every generation,_

_Blames the one before,_

_When all of their frustrations,_

_Come beating on your door,_

_I know that I'm a prisoner to all my father held so dear,_

_I know that I'm a hostage, to all his hopes, and fears,_

_I just wish I could've told him,_

_In the living years,_

_Old crumpled bits of paper,_

_Filled with imperfect thought,_

_Stilted conversations_,

_I'm afraid that's all we got_,

_You say_ _"you just don't see it,"_

_He says "it's perfect sense,"_

_You just can't get agreement,_

_In this present tense,_

_We all talk a different language,_

_Talking in defense,_

**_Say it loud_**_ Say it loud,_

**_Say it clear_**_ Whoa say it clear,_

**_You can listen_**_ As well, as you hear,_

**_It's too late_**_ It's too late,_

**_When we die_**_ Whoa, when we die,_

**_To admit_**_ We don't see, eye-to-eye,_

_So we open up a quarrel,_

_Between the present, and the past,_

_We only sacrifice the future,_

_It's the bitterness that lasts,_

_So don't feel to the fortunes, you just might see his fate,_

_You may have a new perspective, on a different day,_

_And if you don't give up, and don't give in,_

_You may just be okay, HEY !_

_So say it, say, it say it loud, _**_Say it loud_**

**_Say it clear_**_ C'mon, say it clear,_

**_You can listen_**_ As well, as you hear,_

_Because it's too late _**_It's too late_**_ it's too late,_

**_When we die_**_ Ooh, when we die,_

**_To admit_**_ We don't see, eye-to-eye,_

_I wasn't there that morning,_

_When my father passed away,_

_I didn't get to tell him,_

_All the things I had to say,_

_I think I caught his spirit, later that same year,_

_I'm sure I heard his echo in my baby's newborn tears,_

_I just wish I could've told him,_

_In the living years_,

_Hey, so say it, say it, say it loud, _**_Say it loud_**

**_Say it clear_**_ C'mon, say it clear,_

**_You can listen_**_ As well as you hear,_

_Because it's too late, _**_It's too late_**

**_When we die_**_ It's too late when we die,_

**_To admit_**_ We don't see eye-to-eye, Yeah,_

_So say it, say it, say it loud,_**_Say it loud_**_ say it loud,_

**_Say it clear_**_ C'mon, say it clear,_

**_Say it loud_**_ Don't give up, don't give in, and don't know why 'till it's too late ._

Another week went by, and three more changes had taken place in the cheer regionals, the date had now been moved back two months,

"Well, at least we can get in some practice before the regionals ." Kim stated, even though being in practice with at least three confirmed vampires was something that didn't peak her interest, and was not on her high priority list,

"Well, I'll be there too, KP . . . I'll keep an eye on the vamp squad ." Ron replied, making Kim smile a rather lopsided smile, she knew that Ron was powerful, but even she had her doubts about just how powerful Ron was,

"Ron, you may have all these powers, but even you can't be in two places at once ." Kim stated,

"Don't have to be, Kim, I got a few sets of eyes around, Barkin for starters ." Ron stated, he knew that Mr. Barkin was somewhat into the occult, but he also knew that Barkin was a firm believer of the old axiom, "_If I can't see, touch, or hear it . . . it doesn't exist_ ."

"You got Mr. Barkin, the gung-ho Marine on your side ?" Kim asked, not believing what she had heard,

"Kind of, he's still a pretty grounded person, KP . . . so it might take some convincing ." Ron stated,

"Who else ?" Kim asked, arching an eyebrow,

"Ancient Chinese secret, young grasshopper ." Ron said, smiling,

"Oh, you're just full of it today, aren't you ?" Kim asked, laughing slightly, this was cut to an abrupt halt, as Monique sat down, and looked at Kim and Ron, who stiffened in his seat as Monique took her usual spot,

"So, let me in on the gossip, what's going on ?" Monique said, smiling,

"No gossip, Monique, Ron and I were planning a date for this Friday ." Kim said, smiling,

"Oh . . . really . . . dish the dirt, girl, when, and where ?" Monique asked,

"Uhh . . . we plan on keeping it our little secret, Monique ." Ron interjected,

"Bueno Nacho . . . again . . . Ron, when are you gonna get with the program, and cut loose with some of that Naco money ." Monique said, smiling widely . It was no big secret around the school that Ron was loaded, but the one secret that still remained in tact, was just how loaded .

Thanks to royalties coming in from both Bueno Nacho, and Nakasumi Enterprises, Ron was worth well over ten billion dollars, and mounting every month,

"I'm saving up for college, Monique ." Ron said, smiling,

"Right, and I'm gonna be the next President of The United States ." Monique said,

"Well . . . hello Madam President . . . good to meet you ." Ron said sarcastically, shaking Monique's hand in a comical fashion,

"Ron . . . joke ." Monique said, arching an eyebrow at Ron, who got a sudden stony expression,

"I wasn't . . . I'm actually saving up so that I can go to Upperton University, for both me and Kim ." Ron said, crossing his arms across his chest, effectively ending the conversation,

"A real Casanova . . . isn't he ?" Monique said, looking at Kim, and smiling,

"Actually, Monique, Ron doesn't get that much in Naco royalties anymore, it usually comes in the form of a monthly check ." Kim reminded her,

"Yeah, but I'll bet it's still up there . . . how much you worth now Ron, couple billion ?" Monique said, looking over at Ron, and smiling,

"Oh . . . enough ." Ron said, getting that nervous look on his face, he tilted his head slightly, and started rubbing his neck,

"I think I came close to hitting the mark, baby boy ." Monique said, laughing,

"Uh, Monique . . . can you give me and Ron some time alone, please ?" Kim asked, Monique nodded, and walked to an empty table, as soon as she walked away, Ron's eyes flashed a reddish blue color,

"What was that all about ?" Kim asked,

"What was what ?" Ron asked, now turning his attention to the lithe redhead,

"The eye thing ?" Kim asked,

"Oh . . . that . . . it's some kind of early warning system, KP . . . there's trouble brewing, and I have no clue where it is ." Ron replied,

"Can't pinpoint it, huh ?" Kim asked,

"No, but it's got something to do with our newly turned best friend ." Ron said, staring daggers at Monique's back,

"You mean . . . she's been . . . " Kim trailed off,

"Yeah, and I think she got it the same time as Bonnie, Crystal, and Marcella, don't ask me how, but I felt it that first time when Bonnie sat down at the table with us, there was two of them there, Kim, and the only two besides us at the table, were Bonnie, and Monique ." Ron explained,

"So, everyone around us is getting turned, you don't think . . ." Kim began, but Ron cut her off,

"That one of us is next . . . yeah, more than likely, it'll be you . . . since I'm immune to '_you-know-what_ .'" Ron said, low enough that only Kim could hear .

* * *

_Later that night, at cheer practice :_

The cheer squad was performing like they had never done in a long time, all moves were flawless, even Ron had come up with a new Mad Dog routine that the rest of the squad approved of, even Bonnie . . . for a change .

"Not bad, Stoppable . . . I'm seeing some improvement ." Bonnie remarked, smiling,

"Thanks, Bonnie ." Ron said, in a somewhat sarcastic manner.

Just as Ron turned around, he took two steps, and ran into Hope, hard,

"_OW ! _Well . . . that was . . . unexpected ." Ron said, lifting himself off the floor, Kim noticed a small cut on the back of head, which connected with the floor, he didn't have the Mad Dog apparel on his head at the time, instead, tucking it under his arm,

"Oh . . . I'm so sorry . . . are you okay, Ron ?" Hope asked apologetically,

"Yeah . . . it's just a scratch ." Ron said, turning his back to Kim, she watched, as the small cut healed in front of her eyes,

'_I have _**_GOT_**_ to get used to that _.' Kim thought with a slight shiver, and being as close to Bonnie as she was wasn't making matters any better .

Ron stood up, and dusted himself off, as he bent over to help Hope up, he noticed two small puncture marks on her neck, his insides immediately went cold,

'_Vampire bite marks . . . Oh God, this can only mean one thing_ .' Ron thought to himself, and while performing his routine, he decided to look at each girl in turn, his pallor becoming whiter, and whiter as he went, the only one without the telltale marks, was Kim,

"_Kim . . . we need to talk after practice_ ." Ron shot mentally at Kim,

"**_EEP !_**_ Ron . . . you have _**_GOT_**_ to stop doing that !_" Kim shouted mentally back at him,

"_Sorry . . . but it couldn't wait ._" Ron explained, he turned to see Kim nod at him, and flash him a kind of frightened smile .

* * *

_Later that evening, at Bueno Nacho :_

Ron had been talking to Ned, the assistant manager of the store for close to five minutes, before he returned to the booth that he and Kim always shared,

"So, what was so important at practice that you had to invade my mind ?" Kim asked as he sat down,

"Seems that Dracula has been **_VERY_** busy the last week, Kim ." Ron said, laying a heavy emphasis on the word "_very_",

"The squad . . . they're all . . ." Kim trailed off,

"Yep, every one of them . . . I checked them out while they thought I was practicing my routine, and I doubt it ends there, I just finished talking to Ned, he told me that Amelia Johnston hasn't come into work for the last week ." Ron explained,

"Great . . . that means that I'm next on the list then ." Kim said with a shudder,

"I tagged the cheer squad with tracers, they got no clue ." Ron commented,

At that point, the familiar four tones of the Kimmunicator rang out, but it was a higher pitch than what Kim was used to,

"What is that ?" Kim asked, looking at Ron,

"Oh, that's for me ." Ron said, lifting his right hand, and punching a few buttons on his watch, "Go, Wade ." he added.

An image appeared in front of Ron, kind of a hologram of Wade's head, semi-transparent, and hovering at eye level,

"Ron, the trackers are working, but they're moving around so much, it's hard to get a clean lock on them ." Wade said,

"Well, do what you can, buddy ." Ron said,

"On it . . . by the way, did you tell Kim about this ?" Wade asked,

"Oh, the wrist Kimmunicator . . . yeah, just now ." Ron replied,

"Good . . . I hate keeping secrets ." Wade replied,

"Just keep me posted, Wade . . . and set up the safe houses, we need to get those online, I have a funny feeling they'll come in handy . . . Ron out ." Ron said, shutting off communications,

"Okay . . . something else I've been kept out of the loop on ." Kim said, shrugging her shoulders,

"Not really, KP . . . it's experimental, Wade wanted me to field test it for him ." Ron said, shrugging his shoulders in response,

"Not so much the wrist Kimmunicator, but these '_safe houses_' of yours, just where are they ?" Kim asked,

"Oh . . . those, the old Franklin estate north of town, and the Palmer townhouse downtown ." Ron explained,

"Uh-huh, and since when did you have enough money to buy two of the priciest properties in town ?" Kim asked, arching an eyebrow,

"Oh, for about a year now, KP, my Naco Royalties aren't the only things I'm being paid for . . . I got royalties coming in from Nakasumi Enterprises for submission of several game designs, and I got some financial backing from Timothy North, and Nakasumi-san himself ." Ron said, smiling,

"So just how much are you worth now, anyway ?" Kim asked, looking at Ron with a bemused expression on his face,

"Oh, about ten billion, and rising ." Ron said nonchalantly, while still concentrating on his food,

"I got a billionaire for a boyfriend ." Kim said, looking as though she were about to pass out from lack of blood flow to the brain.

The night wore on a little while longer, and Kim and Ron were having fun, until Ron relayed a prophecy to Kim, dealing with him,

"When the twelve warrior women become one, the Mystic Warrior of Light and Shadow will come into his own . . . he will come from a distant land, and be a beacon to all that is right in the world ." Ron recited from memory,

"So, what's this '_twelve warrior women_' thing mean ?" Kim asked,

"Well, twelve women have to join with me, before I can gain full use of my powers ." Ron explained,

"I've got to **_SHARE_** you . . . with **_ELEVEN OTHER WOMEN !_**" Kim said, dumbstruck,

"Sorry, KP . . . looks like life isn't going the way we planned it ." Ron said, shrugging his shoulders again

That's when the familiar chirping of Kim's Kimmunicator sounded off,

"What's the sitch, Wade ?" Kim asked, bringing the small device to her face,

"Ron asked me to translate the old prophecy for you to read, I just finished it ." Wade remarked, and long pages began spitting from the top of the Kimmunicator, by the time it was finished, there were twenty-three pages of the ancient prophecy sitting in front of Kim,

"Now that's one long prophecy ." Kim stated,

"Just read the first ten pages, that pretty much covers the bases, KP ." Ron explained, so Kim read very carefully :

_When the twelve warrior women become one, the Mystic Warrior of Light and Shadow will come into his own . . . he will come from a distant land, and be a beacon to all that is right in the world . _

_These twelve warrior maidens will already be known to the chosen one, one will have been with him his whole life, one, he will have fought against, one, he will have fought alongside of, and the others will be known to him through contacts made throughout his life ._

"Kinda says it all . . . doesn't it ." Ron commented, looking at Kim, who was only beginning to accept her place as part of Ron's entourage,

"A little, I just wish I didn't have to share you with eleven other women, Ron . . . but if I don't, you'll die, and I can't let that happen ." Kim said,

"Read on, it gets better ." Ron said, a sudden stony look passing over his face :

_Ten of the maidens will possess dark powers, one will come from a jaded past, and one will be pure of heart, if the world is to maintain, and keep the balance, these bonds must be placed, or the chosen one will not gain his full powers, and die. The bonds must be consummated within forty eight hours after they're placed, or they will be lost_ .

"What do they mean by "_consummated_," Ron ?" Kim asked,

"Three guesses." Ron replied, causing Kim to blush heavily,

"Oh . . . okay ." Kim replied rather demurely, then, as an afterthought, " I only wish Zita didn't have you first ."

At that moment, Ron's ex-girlfriend, Zita Flores walked up to them, and decided to pass pleasantries,

'_Speak of the devil, and she shall show up _.' Kim thought sourly to herself,

"Hey, guys, how's it going ?" she asked, looking from Ron, to Kim,

"Not bad ." Kim said, then, she saw Ron go rigid in his seat,

"Uhh . . . we're okay, Z . . . how's things with you ?" Ron asked,

"Same old thing . . . Jake's still hitting on me, he keeps it up, I'm gonna knock him into next week ." Zita said, shaking her head, and looking at Kim and Ron expectantly,

"Oh . . . go ahead, take a seat ." Kim said, offering the bench across from where they were sitting,

"Thanks, Kim, man, this place is packed tonight, it's usually dead this time of night ." Zita commented, looking around,

"_This place isn't the only thing that's dead_ _. . . or undead, as the case may be_ ." Ron's voice echoed through Kim's head once more,

"_You mean that Zita's . . ._" Kim asked, blanching at the notion that another of their friends had been bitten,

"_Yeah, Kim . . . she's been bitten, notice her color's off a little ?_" Ron commented,

"Hey . . . Z, you feeling alright, you look a little sick ." Ron said, looking at Zita,

"Yeah, I just got over a cold a couple of days ago, so I guess I'm still a little pale looking, sorry ." Zita remarked,

"_Cold my foot ._" Ron said mentally to Kim, who nodded, suddenly, Kim saw Ron's eyes get real bloodshot, and he suddenly doubled over, letting out an agonized grunt of pain,

"**_RON !_**" both girls screamed, suddenly jumping out of their seats, and rushing to Ron's side,

"I'll be fine, just a bit of a stomach cramp ." Ron said, looking at Zita,

"_Kim, someone's trying to break into my mind . . . and it's _**_NOT_**_ him_ !" Ron said mentally to Kim, who quickly looked at Ron, her expression puzzled,

" _Someone . . . please help me !_" came the strangled cry of a voice that Ron knew all too well,

"_Kim . . . Shego's in major league trouble _." Ron said to Kim mentally,

"Sorry to eat, and run, Z, but KP and I gotta go ." Ron said, heading for the door, with Kim hot on his heels .

Kim and Ron dashed for the door, and into the parking lot, where Ron tossed Kim his car keys,

"You're driving, KP ." Ron said plainly.

Kim nodded, got into the driver's seat of the huge car, and fired up the engine, within seconds, the massive 455 cubic inch Oldsmobile Rocket engine roared to life, and in a screeching of tires, and a pall of acrid smelling smoke, Kim took it out of the driveway, all the while, shooting sideways glances at Ron,

"_Shego . . . This is Ron Stoppable, _**_WHERE IN THE BLAZES ARE YOU?_**" Ron shot out of his head, not really hoping for a response, so he was pleasantly surprised when he finally did get one,

"**_STOPPABLE ! THANK GOD !_**_ I'm at the old Mt. Middleton access road . . . do me a favor, and step on it, I don't know how much longer I can hold out_ ." Shego said, she sounded strained, nearly exhausted,

"_Come, _**_outsider_**_, my minions are waiting ._" came another voice that Ron knew all too well,

"Fukushima . . . why am I **_NOT_** surprised ." Ron said out loud,

"Who's Fukushima ?" Kim asked,

"Long story, just step on it, the old Mt. Middleton access road ." Ron said,

"Should be easy to find her, that road doesn't go that far up the mountain ." Kim said, now putting her full weight down onto her right foot, sending the car zooming down the road in a roar of the engine, and a sudden squeal of tires .

As Kim approached the access road, Ron suddenly straightened up in his chair, and looked over at Kim,

"Stop here ." he said, Kim slammed on the brakes, and looked around, no Shego,

"Ron . . . we're nowhere near Shego, why did you have me stop ?" Kim asked,

"It'll attract less attention if we show up without the car ." Ron said, Kim had to admit that Ron had a valid point, so, she shut off the engine, and handed Ron back his car keys,

"Everybody out of the pool ." Ron said, getting out of the car, and standing in front of it, Kim followed suit, looking at Ron with a very questioning expression on her face,

"Grab onto my arm, KP . . . and hang on, this may get a little hairy ." Ron said, offering his left arm to Kim .

Kim did as instructed, and grabbed hold for dear life onto Ron's outstretched right arm, and in a flash of bright blue light, they found themselves another quarter mile up the road, and in front of a battered, and bloodied Shego, she looked as though she had been put through the mill, her long raven hair was matted with her own blood, her greenish skin had a pale color to it, and all over her body, there was numerous cuts, and bruises, some of them still oozing blood,

"**_GET AWAY FROM HER !_**" Ron shouted, grabbing for the bright blue colored armlet on his right wrist, as soon as he touched it, his body erupted in a bright blue light, as The Lotus Blade once again formed in his left hand, but the protective feeling Kim got from it would soon vanish, when she got a good look at who Ron was looking at, and why he suddenly froze in place,

"Mom . . . dad . . . no . . . oh, God, please no ." Ron said, looking into the eyes of his parents, Edward, and Ellen Stoppable, both of whom were sporting blood red eyes, and three inch long fangs,

"Bring it ." Shego said, standing wobbly legged beside of Ron,

"Back off, Shego, I'll handle them myself ." Ron said, flinging an arm to stop Shego from attacking,

"Ron . . . no . . . you can't ." Kim said, the tears suddenly springing from her eyes,

"You've been a bad boy, Ronald, time for some discipline ." Ellen said, a sadistic smile coming across her face,

"Mom . . . this isn't you . . . please, don't do this ." Ron said, looking at his mother, and backing away,

"But master wishes your death . . . you always were a pathetic thing ." Edward Stoppable said,

"You're wrong, dad ." Ron said, almost quietly, he realized that there was no turning back, it appeared to him that his parents were too far gone to help, so, he was left with no other choice, the tears began streaming from his face, as he pulled back The Lotus Blade, and prepared to strike,

"Ron . . . **_NO !_**" Kim screamed, in shock, and tears, as she saw that Ron was prepared to end his own parent's lives, rather than allow them to live as a part of the undead for eternity .

"I have to, Kim . . . God forgive me for what I'm about to do ." Ron said, the light suddenly got even more intense around him, as his powers seemed to reach a crescendo, with one quick look back at Shego, and Kim, he smiled, and cut loose with an energy bolt that seemed to knock everything for several hundred feet around them flat,

"Forgive me, God . . . I've committed a sin, please forgive me ." Ron said, looking at the now still bodies of his parents, when they disappeared from his sight,

"Not now, boy, I still have a need for these pathetic lumps of flesh, enjoy your small victory, while you can ." a voice with a heavy German accent echoed throughout the area, as though the speaker were right up next to all of them at once, but yet, no one was there .

Kim watched, as Ron turned, drove The Lotus Blade deep into the concrete pavement of the road, and slid down it, crying heavily,

"Ron . . . Oh, God, Ron . . . I'm so sorry . . . I . . . " Kim said, but she was cut off by Ron, who was still looking down, his tears falling freely, soaking his face, and creating red streaks down his cheeks,

"What good are these powers . . . if I can't even save my own parents ?" Ron asked, now looking at Kim through bloodshot eyes .

Kim stepped back to Shego, as Ron sunk into a half kneel, then, unannounced, he threw back his head, and let out a strangled, anguished roar of frustration, pain, and rage, at the same time, a huge pulse of almost blinding blue-white light shot up to the sky, scaring the wits out of both women present,

"Ron . . . I got a problem over here ." Kim said, looking at her boyfriend, still somewhat scared, he turned to look, and saw that Shego had passed out,

"**_NO !_** I **_WILL NOT_** let another innocent die tonight !" Ron roared with rage, as he pulled the half buried Lotus Blade out of the concrete, and walked over to Shego's limp form, he placed the blunt end of the blade lengthwise over Shego's body, and pressed down with his hands,

"Uhh . . . Ron . . . what are you doing ?" Kim asked,

"I'd suggest you close your eyes, Kim . . . it might get a little . . . blinding ." Ron commented, his voice devoid of almost all emotion,

Kim did as instructed, and the moment she did so, she was almost glad she did, a few seconds after she had closed her eyes, a blinding blue-white light erupted right in front of her, and Ron's anguished screams filled the air once again, just as quickly as it started, it stopped, when Kim opened her eyes, she saw Ron laying over top of a now wide awake Shego, steam rolling off his body, Shego twitched, and looked down,

"Oh, God ." she said, seeing Ron laying down, Kim quickly grabbed her Kimmunicator, and punched the call button frantically,

"Wade . . . Ron's been hurt, bad . . . scan him for me ." she said, now holding the Kimmunicator at arms length so that Wade could check Ron out,

"Oh . . . this is not good, Kim . . . power burnout . . . get him to the North estate, I'll tell Mr. North you're on the way ." Wade said,

"Right ." Kim said, trying to help Ron up, by flinging an arm around her shoulder,

"Hang on, Kimmie ." Shego said, taking the other arm, and placing it over her shoulder,

"The car is about a quarter mile down the road, let's get him there ." Kim said, walking down the road, supporting Ron's weight between her, and Shego, who seemed to have healed, before they left, Shego reached down, and grabbed The Lotus Blade, taking it back with her .

The two women arrived at Ron's car about ten minutes later, Kim reached into Ron's pockets, and handed Shego his car keys,

"Here, you drive ." she said,

"Right, let . . . let's get out of here ." Shego said, helping Kim ease Ron into the back seat, Kim sat next to Ron, while Shego fired up the engine, and in a roaring of the engine, and the acrid smell of burnt rubber, they were gone .

* * *

_We DO NOT own Kim Possible, or any characters contained herein,_

_**Doug4422**_

_and_

_**Dragonmaster4381**_

_a.k.a._

_**Epic Quest INC**_


	6. Chapter 6 :  Turning Points

**Chapter 6**

**Turning Points**

Shego pulled the car up to a set of wrought iron gates at the foot of a long driveway, beyond it was a very stately looking manor house,

"Cozy looking place . . . does the Bride of Frankenstein live here ?" Shego quipped,

"No . . . an old friend of Ron's," Kim stated, as the car pulled up to a set of ornate double doors at the front of the house, Kim added, as Shego shut the car down, "go up to the door, and ask for Mr. North, tell him that FF2 has been hurt bad, and that we need his help, quick ."

Shego nodded, somewhat stumped, but she did as asked, a few seconds later, Timothy North, and Wade walked out with a litter, and placed Ron's still form onto it,

"We'd better get him down to the hole, I got some medical equipment there that could come in handy ." Mr. North said, looking at Wade, who nodded,

* * *

_A short time later :_

Shego was staring all around her, what she saw was something that she had seen only on tv .

It looked like a huge movie set, all around here were props from one of her favorite television shows as a kid, "**_The Fearless Ferret_**,"

"Who dreamed all this up ?" Shego asked, looking around,

"That would be me, I was going through a pretty rough denial phase for a long time, Ronald here helped me out of it ." Mr. North explained,

"You're Timothy North, aren't you ?" Shego asked,

"Yep . . . that's me ." Mr. North replied, smiling,

"I thought so . . . you played The Fearless Ferret on tv ." Shego commented,

"Ah . . . you were a fan ?" Mr. North asked, a smile on his face,

"Well, 'm not old enough to have watched first run, but yeah, I guess you could call me a bit of a fan ." Shego said, smiling slightly,

'_How does Stoppable hook up with people like this, first Bueno Nacho, then Nakasumi, now Timothy North . . . this is just too much ._' she thought to herself quickly . At that same time, a loud monotone alarm sounded throughout the cave-like structure,

"Intruder alert ?" Shego asked,

"No . . . worse ." Wade said, turning to look at Ron, who was laid on a gurney near where they were standing, all monitors he was hooked up to were now reading flatline,

"Wade . . . you'd better bring the crash cart, FF2 just went flatline ." Mr. North called out,

"Wait, let me try it ." Shego said, stopping Wade in his tracks,

"What are you going to do ?" Wade asked,

"Repay a kindness ." Shego said, lighting up her hands, and placing them on Ron's bare chest,

"You're not dying on me, Stoppable . . . not today ." Shego said, as a sudden look of concentration filled her face .

Shego watched the monitors closely, as she kept her now brightly glowing hands pressed against Ron's rib cage .

"I got a heartbeat ." Wade suddenly called out, looking at Shego,

"C'mon . . . c'mon . . . get back up there ." Shego muttered, still eyeing the monitors, she pressed down harder on Ron's chest, and sent her powers into overdrive, the glow coming from her hands was almost blinding, and within seconds, she was sweating profusely,

"**_COME ON, DAMMIT !_**" Shego screamed. She watched, as the monitors showed Ron's heartbeat stabilize, and return to normal, once everything stabilized, Shego collapsed into a chair, and wiped the sweat from her brow,

"Whatever you did . . . it worked ." Mr. North said, looking at Shego with a smile on his face,

"Huh . . . wha . . . what happened ." Ron said groggily,

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Stoppable ." Shego said, she sounded winded, as though she had run a marathon in record time,

"Thanks ." Ron said somewhat quietly, it was at this time, that he suddenly felt Kim hit him across the chest, hard, and with a set of extremely sore ribs, it made it all the worse,

"_**OOF!** **KIM ! MY RIBS**_ __" Ron shouted

"Just shut up, and hold me . . . you scared the hell out of me, Ron . . . don't do that again ." Kim sobbed into Ron's chest .

Ron took his still aching arms, and wrapped them around Kim's waist in a protective manner,

"I would never hurt you on purpose, Kim . . . you know that ." Ron commented, with a smile on his face,

"Hey, FF2, how are you doing ?" Mr. North said, smiling at his one-time protégé,

"Oh, I've had better, Mr. N." Ron stated lamely,

"I'm sure you have ." Mr. North replied,

"Oh, God . . . it's been a long time since I've done that, I forgot how tired it makes me ." Shego said, sinking further into the chair she was sitting in,

"I got some spare bedrooms on the second floor, you're more than welcome to bunk here for the night ." Mr. North said, to the thanks of a grateful Shego, who trudged off to the small elevator near the back of the cave-like structure

"What brought you over here, Wade ?" Ron asked, looking over at the teenage tech man of Team Possible,

"My parents were killed in a vampire attack last night, Ron ." Wade said, the tears pooling in his eyes,

"I'm sorry, Wade, mine were killed earlier this evening ." Ron said, the tears welling up in his eyes, as he sat up on the gurney he was on .

He stepped off the gurney easily, still nursing some sore ribs, and smiled at Mr. North, walking up the stairs, and to one of the many spare bedrooms he had in the huge manor style home .

* * *

_The next morning :_

As morning rolled around, Ron sat at the breakfast table at the North home, and told the tale of the things that happened last night, how his telepathic powers awakened, how the entire cheer squad had been turned, and how he had been forced to kill his parents, this stopped Ron in his tracks, and he once again, began to cry over the loss that was still so raw, and fresh in his mind,

"That damned prophecy of yours is finally starting to come true, isn't it ?" Mr. North asked,

"Looks like it ." Ron commented,

"You still got your eyes inside the Middleton police ?" Mr. North asked,

"Yeah, Seamus Hubble is still my eyes and ears on the force, and so far, the rest of the cops are as just as stumped as the press is about all these attacks, and Seamus isn't talking ." Ron relayed .

"I don't blame him," Shego commented, "I mean, who'd believe him ?"

"Yeah, really," Kim chimed, "I saw it with my own two eyes, and I **_still_** don't believe it ."

"Six thirty, KP, we'd better get moving, it's going to take at least half an hour to fight the traffic, and get back into town for school ." Ron said, leading Kim to the front door of the mansion .

As Ron left, and waved the rest of the group, he didn't notice Shego, drifting off into her own little world, staring at his backside as he went,

"Uh . . . Shego . . . would you leave Ron enough clothes on not to catch a cold, we need him for this one ." Wade commented,

"Sorry . . . but **_MAN_**, why has he been hiding that body all this time, that boy is good enough to eat raw ." Shego said, still with a dreamy look in her eyes .

"Are you blushing, Shego ?" Mr. North said, looking at Shego, who had a slight greenish tint to her cheeks,

"Me . . . no . . . why ?" Shego said, sounding kind of uncertain,

"Someone's crushing ." Wade replied in a kind of singsong voice,

"I'm going to my room . . . I'll see you two later ." Shego said, getting up from her chair, her cheeks flushed a bright green .

Shego walked into her room, and closed the door, once she did, she sat down on the bed, and looked out the window,

'_What am I thinking, there's no way Stoppable would go for someone like me,_' she thought to herself, '_maybe, though, if I'm lucky, and I play my cards right, he might bite ._'

* * *

_At Middleton High School :_

"We made it . . . and with ten minutes to spare ." Kim said, smiling over at Ron, the two had just walked into the school, and were heading for their lockers,

"Yeah . . . unbelievable that traffic was so slow today ." Ron commented,

"Well . . . all things considered ." Kim said,

"Yeah . . . don't remind me, KP ." Ron said,

"Oh . . . nature calls, Ron, I need to use the ladies room ." Kim said, walking down the hall a little way from her locker to the girls bathroom,

"Okay . . . I'll just wait out here, then ." Ron said, leaning up against the wall, and waiting for Kim to come back out .

Kim had finished up her chores in the bathroom, and was at the sink, washing her hands, when one of the stalls behind her opened, from her position, she couldn't see who it was, and she was unable to see their reflection in the mirror, but a pair of glowing crimson eyes were boring a hole into her back .

She was completely unprepared, when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind, and a set of three inch long fangs sunk into the right side of her neck, near the collarbone, she had no time to scream, before darkness overtook her, she only had time to shout a mental message to Ron .

Ron was still leaning against the wall, when a sudden mental message from Kim shot through his brain,

"**_RON ! HELP ME !_**"

"Oh, God . . . **_KIM !_**" Ron screamed, taking off like a shot into the girls bathroom, when he got in, the sight that greeted him made him go pale .

Kim was laying face down on the floor, at the base of her neck, on the right side, were the telltale vampire puncture marks, she was cold as ice to the touch, and her skin had started to pale,

"Oh, God . . . please don't let this happen ." Ron said out loud, but a sudden noise in one of the stalls caught his attention,

"**_SHOW YOUR FACE !_**" Ron bellowed, and stood, bracing himself for a fight, he was taken completely by surprise at what he saw .

Tara King walked out of the stall, her eyes glowing crimson, and two small dribbles of blood ran down her chin from three inch long fangs,

"Oh, God, no . . . Tara ." Ron said, almost whispering it out .

* * *

_We DO NOT own Kim Possible, or Dracula_

_**Doug4422**_

_and_

_**Dragonmaster4381**_

_a.k.a._

_**Epic Quest INC**_


	7. Chapter 7 :  Getting Nasty

**Chapter 7**

**Getting Nasty**

_**Hair of the Dog,**_

by **_Nazareth_**

_Heartbreaker . . . soul shaker!_

_I've been told about you,_

_Steamroller . . . Midnight shoulder,_

_What they've been sayin' must be true,_

_Red-hot Mama,_

_Velvet Charmer,_

_Time has come to pay your dues,_

_Now you're messin' with a,_

_. . . a Son-of-a-bitch (now you're messin' with a son-of-a-bitch)_

_Now you're messin' with a,_

_. . .a son-of-a-bitch (now you're messin' with a son-of-a-bitch)_

_Talkin' jivy, poison ivy,_

_You ain't gonna cling to me,_

_Mantaker . . . Born faker,_

_I ain't so blind I can't see,_

_Red-hot Mama,_

_Velvet Charmer,_

_Time has come to pay your dues,_

_Now you're messin' with a,_

_. . . a son-of-a-bitch (now you're messin' with a son-of-a-bitch)_

_Now you're messin' with a,_

_. . . a son-of-a-bitch (now you're messin' with a son-of-a-bitch)_

Ron stood on the spot, stunned at what he saw,

"What have you done?" Ron asked, his voice still barely above a whisper,

"Oh, God . . . Ron . . ." Tara said, her eyes were full of fear, she appeared frightened.

At that time, a loud hissing noise caught Ron's attention, as the entire whole of the cheer squad, along with Monique, and Zita appeared in the doorway,

"Hello, Ronnie." Bonnie said, her eyes glowing crimson, and her fangs bared,

"**_STAY AWAY FROM HER!_**" Ron bellowed, looking dead into the eyes of the girls in front of him,

"Master wants his bride, Ronnie, and what Master wants, he gets." Hope Frazier commented, she was standing behind Bonnie, and to her right,

"Not today, Hope, and definitely not while I'm alive." Ron said, his body suddenly erupting in a blue-white light.

The squad all back peddled, and hissed loudly, as Ron erected his barrier over himself, and Kim, but a hissing beside of him suddenly caught his attention,

"Oh, God . . . not you too, KP." Ron said, looking down at Kim, who was now awake, her eyes glowing crimson, and three inch long fangs protruding from her upper line of teeth,

"I swore I'd never do this." Ron said, grabbing onto Kim with the reflexes of a cat, and holding her at arms length, he cut loose with a massive bolt of energy.

Ron watched, heartbroken, as Kim went limp in his arms, knocked out from the force of the energy wave which coursed through her body, he then teleported out of sight, had he stuck around to witness what that one move had done, he would've seen that the cheer squad, Monique, and Zita lay in disarray in the hallway, and two walls of the girl's bathroom had been completely blown away.

* * *

_The Franklin Estate, 2781 Friars Road, north of Middleton:_

Ron appeared in the massive foyer of the huge mansion, and looked around,

"**_WADE! WE GOT A MAJOR PROBLEM!_**" he bellowed, within seconds, the rotund African-American teenager, followed by Shego, walked into the foyer, to see Ron, holding onto a stunned Kim, she was pale as death itself, and the bite marks on her neck were plainly visible,

"Oh, God, bring her into the den, and I'll see what I can do." Wade said,

"I got some of the initial damage control out of the way, I put like half a million mental blocks on her mind, so that blood sucking piece of pond scum won't be able to control her." Ron said, laying Kim easily down onto the sofa in the huge den, and sitting down next to her,

"Well, whatever you did, it did the trick, buddy, somehow, you've locked her in place, she's a Dhampyre." Wade said,

"She's not a full vampire?" Ron asked,

"Nope, looks like whatever you did, you did it just in time, the infestation of her body has affected her DNA, but not her mental capacity, she's not a slave to Dracula, which means that she's free to think for herself." Wade said

"That's good to hear, but something tells me that there's some bad news involved too." Ron said

"Yeah," Wade said, "unfortunately, she's still prone to a vampiric thirst, and has to take care of it at least once a month, or she could go into a blood rage, and end up dying." Wade said,

"And when is the first one gonna take place?" Ron asked,

"As soon as she wakes up." Wade said.

A few hours went by, and still, Kim had not awakened, until now, ever so quietly, and slowly, she stirred in Ron's arms.

"KP . . . uh-oh." Ron said, remembering what Wade had told him would happen when she woke up .

Sure enough, when Kim's eyes sprung open, they were a deep crimson color, and her fangs began to form,

"KP . . . you okay?" Ron asked,

"Ron . . . I'm hungry . . . oh, my God . . . no . . ." Kim said, suddenly shooting up from her seat, and backing away from Ron looking scared,

"Kim . . . what's wrong?" Ron said,

"I need . . . oh, God . . ." Kim said, starting to cry, but there was something odd, she wasn't crying tears, she was crying blood,

"**_WADE!_**" Ron screamed, Wade came tearing into the room, followed by Shego,

"She's going into a blood rage, Ron . . . she needs her first feeding now, or she'll die." Wade said, almost in shock,

"Oh, great . . . just when I thought things couldn't get any worse." Ron said, pulling up his shirt sleeve, and walking up to Kim,

"Bite down, Kim." Ron said, extending his arm in front of her,

"No." Kim said, clearly shocked at what Ron was saying, he was planning to sacrifice his life to keep her alive, there was no way she would allow that,

"I said bite down, Kim . . .if you don't, you'll die." Ron repeated,

"Then, I'd rather die, than hurt you." Kim replied, it was at this time, Shego snuck behind Kim, as if reading Ron's mind,

"**_DAMMIT, IF YOU WON'T DO IT, THEN I'LL MAKE YOU!_**" Ron shouted, and shoved her fangs into his arm, Kim tried to back away, but Ron's hand held her head firmly in place, as Shego pushed down on her shoulders,

"I don't want you do die, Kim, and this is the only way." Ron said,

"Just do it, Kimmie, no one's going to hurt you here." Shego said in a soothing tone, Kim let out a racking sob, and finally relented.

After she had her fill, she finally let go, and had pretty much returned to normal, Ron quickly wrapped his arms around her in a protective manner, and began rocking her back and forth,

"_Shh_ . . . let it out, Kim, just let it all out." Ron said, as Kim sobbed into his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears, Wade and Shego looked on.

Wade was heartbroken to see his two best friends this way, he knew that Ron meant well, but he had done something he swore he would never do in his life, he had forced Kim to do something she didn't want to do.

The look on Shego's face was unreadable, she knew that Ron was deeply in love with Kim, and never wanted to hurt her, but this noble act was something that she couldn't comprehend, how could Ron be so forceful one minute, and so gentle the next, what kind of person was he, to have this Jekyll and Hyde personality?

Kim had fallen asleep in Ron's arms, crying the whole time,

"I'm gonna take Kim upstairs . . . Shego, could you do me a huge favor, and have an ice pack ready for me when I come back down . . . that stung." Ron said, lifting Kim into his arms in a cradle, she noticed that the bite marks on Ron's arm healed up, and were completely gone,

"That was quick," Shego commented after Ron left, "it usually takes me twenty four hours to a week, depending on the injury."

"Ron's a one-of-a-kind." Wade remarked.

Ron came downstairs a few seconds later, and gratefully took the ice pack from Shego,

"Thanks." he said, sitting back down on the sofa, and placing the ice pack down on his arm,

"What's the next move?" Shego asked, looking at Ron,

"Well, I got to go back to the school tomorrow, I'm gonna leave Kim here, because this is going to be a bit of a social call." Ron said, looking at Wade, who nodded,

"Who are you planning on recruiting, Ron?" Wade asked,

"Well . . . I was thinking Brick Flagg, and Mr. Barkin, I'm sure they'll come in handy." Ron admitted,

"Yeah . . . while you're at it, get Felix Renton, and Josh Mankey too, I'll more than likely need their help as well." Wade commented, to a nod from Ron, who got up, and headed back up the stairs,

"I'm gonna crash for the night, I got the alarm set for six o'clock, that'll give me enough time to get a shower, get shaved, and to school, just keep an eye on Kim . . . did you get in touch with the slaughterhouse down the road?" Ron asked,

"Yeah . . . first shipment is due in tomorrow morning, I'll sign for it, and the money will be taken directly from your account." Wade said,

"Just in case it doesn't make it, I think that we should all donate about a couple pints of blood for the cause." Ron said,

"I'll donate a couple pints, and place it in emergency stores." Wade said,

"Cool." Ron replied,

"Same here, that way, none of us ends up too weak from blood loss." Shego commented, which received a nod from Ron, and a grateful smile.

* * *

_In the Master Bedroom on the second floor:_

Ron slipped into the bed, where only a few minutes before, he had so gingerly placed a sleeping Kim,and laid down beside her, she had curled up into a fetal position, and was awake, holding her knees close to her chin,

"KP . . . you awake." Ron asked,

"Uh-huh." Kim mumbled,

"I'm sorry, Kim, but I didn't want you to die, my life is nothing without you." Ron said bluntly,

"No, Ron . . . **_I'm_** sorry, for . . . biting you ." Kim said, sobbing slightly,

"Hey, you got nothing to be sorry about, hon . . . don't worry about it ." Ron said soothingly, he laced his arm around Kim's waist in a protective manner, she quickly snuggled in close to him, and began to drift off into sleep again .

A few seconds later, Shego walked into the room, and slipped into the massive bed,

"Feeling better, Kimmie ?" she asked,

"_Shh_," Ron said, placing a finger to his lips, "she's finally asleep again ."

Shego nodded, and looked at Ron with a smile on her face, she dozed off, dreaming peaceful dreams of her, and Ron, together at last.

* * *

_The next morning :_

Kim awoke first, to find that Ron was already gone, Shego stirred, and opened her eyes to look around the room.

"Looks like Stoppable decided to get an early start ." she commented, noticing that the clock only read 5:30 .

"Where did he go ?" Kim asked,

"He said something about paying a social call to the school today, a recruiting visit ." Shego commented,

"The more, the merrier ." Kim said, slipping out of the bed, noticing that she was wearing Ron's hockey jersey as a night shirt,

"Tell me about it ." Shego said, standing up, and revealing green underwear, she quickly grabbed her familiar green and black body suit, and zipped it up, preparing to start her day .

* * *

_In a cave system, somewhere in Middleton:_

"**_YOU FOOL !_**" bellowed a voice in a heavy German accent, "Do you have any idea what you have just done ?"

"I thought it would break his spirit, master ." came the voice of Fukushima, laying on the ground, not meeting Dracula's eyes,

"It did nothing of the kind, you brain-dead fool, you merely succeeded in angering him, now, he will not stop until we're all dead ." Dracula said,

"Master is right, Fukushima, you have no idea the kind of power that Stoppable carries with him ." came the voice of Monkey Fist from the shadows,

"If I didn't need you, Fukushima, believe me, you would be dead where you stand, now, because of your ignorance, I have to go about this another way." Dracula spat out, as though the words were poison,

"I only was trying to please you, master ." Fukushima said,

"_Humph_ . . . please me, hardly, I'll leave punishment up to you, Lord Fiske, do with him as you will ." Dracula said, stalking out of the cave, and disappearing into the night .

* * *

_Middleton High School:_

Ron walked up to his locker, and grabbed his books, appearing as though he was going to class, even though he had no intentions of attending any of them, as he closed his locker door, he saw Monique, standing to his right, raiding her locker.

"Oh, great, look who shows up, just when I didn't need to see her ." Ron said sarcastically,

"Hi, Ron . . . uh . . . how's Kim ?" Monique asked, somewhat nervously,

"Oh, she's fine . . . she's a Dhampyre now, thanks to you and your new friends . . . other than that, she's fine." Ron stated flatly,

"Ron . . . I . . . I'm sorry . . . but . . ." Monique began, but Ron cut her off,

"Oh, get off it, Monique . . . if you're sorry, than I'm the King of Egypt ." Ron said,

"Ron . . . I am, I mean it . . . you don't understand, I can't disobey an order from my master ." Monique said, a sad look crossing her features,

"Well, your master can kiss my lily white butt ." Ron said scathingly,

"Ron . . . please . . . I don't want to hurt you ." Monique said,

"You won't." Ron said, turning, and walking away, at that moment, Brick Flagg came around the corner, and stopped beside of Monique,

"Hey, Monique, we still on for Friday night ?" he asked,

"Uh . . . yeah . . . sure, Brick." Monique said, walking away, as she passed Ron, he leaned in close, and whispered, so that only she could hear,

"If you even think about sinking your fangs into his neck, I'll make sure that you won't live to regret that mistake ." He drove home his point by giving Monique a small mental jolt . Monique gave a sad smile, and continued to walk away.

As Brick drew close to Ron, Ron pulled him off to the side, and talked to him,

"Uh . . . Brickster, do you think that was a wise idea ?" he asked,

"It's only a date, Ron-man, no big ." Brick replied,

"Do you trust me ?" Ron asked,

"You know I do, I have for a long time now ." Brick replied,

"Okay, take Monique to the detention room, and turn off the lights, trust me on this one, Brick ." Ron said,

"Okay . . . I'll need a few minutes, though ." Brick said,

"Alright . . . you got five minutes, the detention room, Brick, I got your back ." Ron said, walking in the direction opposite of his first period Chem class .

* * *

_The detention room, five minutes later:_

Brick opened the door, and let Monique into the room,

"What do you got planned, baby boy ?" Monique asked, looking up at Brick,

"It's a surprise." Brick said,

"Yeah . . . but the detention room . . . it's home of the Lifetime Losers Club ." Monique said,

"Don't let Ron hear you say that," Brick said, "besides, it's also the quietest room in the school right now."

Monique smiled, and walked in, as soon as they were in, Brick reached over, and locked the door, then, he did as Ron asked, and shut off the lights with one movement of his hand, what he saw, made his blood run cold.

Standing in front of him, where Monique should be, was a pair of glowing crimson colored eyes,

"**_HOLY CRAP . . . WHAT ARE YOU !_**" Brick shouted, now scared out of his mind,

"Brick . . . I . . ." Monique said, becoming real fidgety, then, she let out a loud gasp, "**_RUN . . . NOW!_**" she yelled, as a loud hissing escaped her mouth, she lunged for Brick, but stopped short, as the glowing blue-white edge of The Lotus Blade came down between her, and her target,

"I don't think so, Monique." came a familiar voice to her right, she turned to see a set of eerily glowing ice blue eyes, but it was the voice that made her stop in her tracks, the voice of Ron Stoppable.

Suddenly the room was filled with a loud chorus of hisses, as Ron reached for the lights, once they were on, he saw the whole cheer squad, standing behind Monique, all of them looked ready to fight,

"All this . . . for moi, you shouldn't have ." Ron mocked,

"Master has ordered your deaths, you are all cattle to him ." Bonnie said, looking at Ron with a frown,

"Does cattle fight back, Bon-Bon ?" Ron asked, smirking,

"You're the exception to the rule, Ronnie, and a cute exception too . . . too bad master wants your head on a platter ." Bonnie responded,

"I don't see that happening in the near future, Bonnie ." Ron said, his smirk still in place,

"**_KILL HIM, SLAVES!_**" came a voice with a heavy German accent,

"Please try . . . I'm looking for a good scrap." Ron said, twirling around The Lotus Blade, and taking up a battle stance.

Hope was the first to charge at Ron, she ran headlong at him, tears streaming out of her eyes as she did so, he quickly sidestepped the beautiful Chinese-American, and whacked her hard across the rump with the blunt edge of his sword.

"Bad Hope . . . you ought to know better." Ron mocked,

"Ooh . . . kinky." Bonnie remarked,

"Stick around, Bon-Bon . . . the fun's just started." Ron said, the bright blue-white aura around him suddenly becoming brighter,

"Don't even think about leaving, ladies, you'll get a rude awakening if you try." Ron said casually, Tara attempted to leave via shadow porting, but fell backwards onto the floor,

"Classic vampire trap tactics 101, how to trap a vamp in a psionic field . . . you like ?" Ron said, the rage suddenly becoming more noticeable in his face,

The girls all hissed, and attempted to run full tilt at Ron, who got a real bored expression on his face,

"This is getting **_SOO_** old." he said, suddenly cutting loose with an energy blast that tossed every girl in front of him into the wall opposite like rag dolls, when the girls came to, they suddenly looked around, once their eyes locked onto Ron, they got scared,

"Wha . . . what happened ?" Tara said, rubbing her head,

"I don't know ." Monique said, looking at Tara with a puzzled expression on her face,

"Oh, God . . . Ron." Marcella said, pointing Ron out to the rest of the group, he was standing near the center of the room, the only other girl still on her feet was Bonnie,

"Your call, Bon-Bon." Ron said, looking at the tanned beauty, and smirking,

"Get up and fight, master orders it." Bonnie said, looking back at the other girls,

"I don't want to." came the reply from Tara, as the other girls nodded their agreement,

"Looks like it's just you, and me, Bonnie." Ron said, this was all the motivation Bonnie needed.

She charged Ron, who lifted his right arm in front of him, Bonnie's fangs quickly penetrated the skin, he looked at the bronzed beauty, and arched an eyebrow,

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked,

"You . . . taste funny." Bonnie said, she quickly began gagging, and vomited all over the floor in front of her,

"Oh . . . I forgot to mention that I'm immune to vampire bites . . . among other things." Ron said, smirking once again,

Bonnie waved her hand in front of her, and a trail of blood came from her hand, and arced in the air, before forming into a Roman style short sword,

"A blood sword, nice, Bonnie, now, let's see what you got ." Ron said, once again, dropping into a battle stance.

Bonnie charged at Ron, who suddenly got a serious look on his face, her sword was way above her head, and she was running full tilt at him,

"You've already lost, Bonnie." Ron said, as she began her run.

As Bonnie drew her sword higher, in an attempt to bring it down on Ron's head, Ron ducked, and shoved The Lotus Blade deep into Bonnie's abdomen.

Bonnie let out a blood curdling scream, as her sword melted, and disappeared, Ron then pulled the sword out, and hit her with a pulse blast that sent her through the opposite wall.

"Any other takers?" Ron asked, looking at the cheer squad, all huddled near the teacher's desk, in the back of the room, none of them said a word, as Ron stalked around the room,

"I've raised the barricades, now, get out of my sight, before I change my mind." Ron said, a hard edge to his voice .

One by one, the girls disappeared into the shadows, all of them had tears in their eyes as they did so, only Monique looked back at Ron,

"Ron . . . please understand, we didn't want to, he forced us ." she said, then slipped into the shadows, where she disappeared along with the others,

"What the hell was that, Ron-man ?" Brick asked, still rooted to the spot in fear,

"They were vampires, Brick . . . every one of them." Ron said, now allowing The Lotus Blade to form around his arm in a bluish colored bracelet,

"What do you want from me ?" Brick asked,

Ron dug his car keys out of his pocket, and tossed them to Brick,

"I want you to go to the old Franklin place north of town, and wait there for me, I still got some more recruiting to do ." Ron said,

"Barkin's not here today, if that's who you're looking for, he called in . . . I think he's still a little rattled about what happened in the girls bathroom yesterday ." Brick commented,

"Yeah . . . he's not the only one ." Ron replied,

"You had something to do with that, didn't you ." Brick said,

"Yeah, they got to Kim yesterday, lucky I got there when I did, or fang face would have her by now ." Ron replied,

"As for Josh, and Felix, they've been gone all week, no one's seen, or heard from them since." Brick commented,

"Just grand . . . more bad news I didn't need to hear, this week is really starting to be a bummer." Ron said in a sarcastic tone,

"The old Franklin estate north of town, that's about 20 miles away, Ron ." Brick commented,

"I know, and it's closer than the Palmer townhouse, that's 25 miles away, in the heart of downtown." Ron replied,

"Alright, I get the picture, I'll be there." Brick said, heading out of the room,

"And don't take any detours, or make any stops along the way." Ron said to Brick's retreating form, the well built blonde waved a hand to show that he heard, and understood.

Ron quickly reached to the wrist Kimmunicator, still strapped to his right wrist, and punched few buttons on it,

"Wade, I need you to run scans on the Renton, and Barkin homes, I'm heading to Josh Mankey's place." he said,

"On it, I should have the info for you by the time you get to Josh's house, bud." Wade said,

"Cool, I'll be expecting it . . . Ron out ." Ron said, punching the button to end communication with Wade, a few seconds later, in a flash of blue-white light, Ron was gone .

* * *

_The home of Josh Mankey:_

Ron walked through the front door of the Mankey house like he had done a thousand times before, but the usually orderly house was a complete mess, it appeared as though a natural disaster took place, most of the damage was contained within the living room, where books were strewn all about, most of them missing pages, sketches of Ron, and Kim, in happier times were tossed about, most of them ripped in half, and the television set had a huge hole in the picture tube,

"Wade, I'm at Josh's place, and it looks like a hurricane went through here." Ron commented, as he activated the wrist Kimmunicator one more time,

"Well, I hope you're braced, bud, because I got some bad news, the Renton place is just as bad . . . wait a minute . . . Ron, I got a faint life sign at the Renton place, in the kitchen . . . oh, God, Ron . . . it's Felix's mother, Jane, she's in a bad way." Wade said,

"I'm on the way, get in touch with Seamus Hubble, and have him meet me there ." Ron replied,

"On it." Wade said, signing off,

"You're not dying on me, Jane . . . hang in there." Ron said, disappearing out of sight in a flash of blue-white light.

* * *

_At the home of Felix Renton:_

Ron appeared in the living room, and the first thing he saw, was Felix's cyberchair, sitting, unoccupied, in a corner of the room, he stored this in the back of his head, for further review, he had little time to waste, if he wished to save Jane from certain death, he walked into the kitchen, what he saw almost made him loose his lunch on the spot.

Jane Renton was face down on the tile floor, her blood was pooling around her head, her face was half buried in her own blood, Ron bent down, and found a weak pulse, immediately, he began first-aid, and treated the head wounds, and the small bite marks on her neck, which appeared to not puncture the skin, but it was dimpled in two small spots near the base of her neck,

"Ronnie, me boyo, you in here ?" came the voice of a man with a thick Irish brogue,

"In the kitchen, Seamus." Ron hollered out, recognizing the voice of Middleton Police Sergeant Seamus Hubble,

"Saints preserve us . . . what happened in here, Ronnie?" Hubble said, looking shocked,

"Three guesses." Ron said, pointing to the dimples on Jane's neck,

"Another one of those attacks ?" Hubble asked,

"Yeah, but it looks like she wasn't killed the old-fashioned way." Ron said,

"She's not dead at all, but she's got some severe blunt force trauma to the head, I got the Paramedics coming behind me, you'd better make yourself scarce, laddie." Hubble said,

"Already gone." Ron said, disappearing in a flash of blue-white light, and reappearing a block away, just as he reappeared, the wrist Kimmunicator went off again,

"Ron, you need to get to Barkin's house, they're there, and trying to bust into his bedroom." Wade commented,

"Tell him I'm on the way, Wade . . . Ron out ." Ron said, cutting off communication,

'_What is this, the Vampire Olympics?_' Ron thought to himself, as he appeared outside of Mr. Barkin's door, he quickly established contact with the principal of the high school,

"_Mr. B., it's Ron Stoppable, how are you holding up?_" Ron asked,

"_Hurry, man, I have no idea how long the garlic is going to last!_" Barkin shouted back,

"_I'm right outside, I guess it's time to make my presence known._" Ron stated, cutting off the mental link with Mr. Barkin, and establishing one with the vampires in the house, he soon realized that they were the same ones that attacked he, and Brick in the detention room,

"_Ladies . . . ladies . . . The Ron-man has arrived!_" Ron mentally shouted to them, suddenly, Ron saw commotion on the first floor, as several window shades were flung open, and the girls all stood, open-mouthed at what they saw,

"_Don't act surprised, you should've known I'd have Barkin's place wired_._" _Ron commented, it was at this time, that a pungent smell hit Ron's nostrils,

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up, Count Dracula." Ron said, turning around.

Sure enough, directly in front of him, stood Count Dracula, dressed in a black tux, his long black cape billowing out behind him,

"You are quite the pest, Mr. Stoppable." Dracula said, almost lazily,

"Stick around . . . you'll find I'm full of surprises." Ron commented, bracing himself for a fight, but hoping that he wouldn't have to,

"It would be so much easier if you joined me, think of what we can do together, we can rule the world, and have the entire human race at our beck and call." Dracula commented, trying to lure Ron to join him,

"Tempting . . . but no." Ron said,

"Then you leave me no choice but to kill you, stupid boy." Dracula spat out,

"If you want to go that route, I got an idea . . . do you gamble ?" Ron asked,

"It depends . . . what's the wager?" Dracula asked, Ron quickly looked at the front door of the Barkin home, and it flung open, as though blown inward by a strong wind,

"First thing's first, I want your word as a gentleman, and a vampire, that you'll agree to the terms of the deal." Ron said, staring Dracula in the eye, he knew that a vampire's word was their bond, and to break it would be their deaths,

"Agreed." Dracula said.

At this point, several of the girls in the house got real scared, and began begging Ron to back out of whatever he had planned,

"**_SILENCE, SLAVES!_**" Dracula bellowed, turning to look at the girls, who all fell silent at once,

"If you agree, then say it." Ron said, wanting to bind him to the deal he was about to make,

"You have my word as both a gentleman, and a vampire, that I will agree, and abide to the terms of the deal, and produce the wager . . . should you win." Dracula said,

"Good . . . the wager is them, if I win, I get them, lock, stock, and barrel, if I lose, I walk away, and you'll never hear from me again," Ron said, jerking his thumb to the house, where the girls now stood, in complete fear, "the game is hand-to-hand combat, no weapons of any kind, that includes your fangs, the one that runs, cries "_Uncle_," or is knocked out, or killed, is the loser."

"If that's what you want, Mr. Stoppable, let's sweeten the deal . . . if you lose, you become my servant." Dracula said, smiling,

"And how do you intend to pull that off, I can't be turned, or mind controlled ." Ron said,

"That's the beauty of it . . . you will have to do it willingly." Dracula replied,

"Fine, you got a deal, now, ditch your weapons." Ron said, and watched, as Dracula dismissed two broadswords, which disappeared into smoke.

Ron removed the Lotus Blade, and looked to the door, Mr. Barkin walked out, and to Ron's side,

"Hold this for me ." Ron said, handing the beautiful katana to Mr. Barkin, who nodded, and walked back into the house,

"The cloak . . . lose it." Ron said forcefully, he was aware that Dracula could use the cape as a weapon just as effectively as he could wield a pair of swords,

"As you wish." Dracula said, removing his cape, and dismissing it with a wave of his hand,

"Let's get this party started." Ron said, dropping into a fighting stance,

"Indeed . . . let's." Dracula said, charging full tilt to Ron, who was able to sidestep his foe, and plant a massive side kick to the chest, it succeeded in knocking Dracula to one knee, but not out, as Ron had intended,

"Not bad, boy, but you can't win against me, I have centuries of experience." Dracula said,

"Well . . . I'm feeling lucky today, bring it." Ron said, smiling,

"Your luck is about to run out, boy." Dracula said, grabbing onto Ron's right leg, and tossing him several feet, before he came to rest on Mr. Barkin's front lawn.

Ron hit the ground hard, little white lights popped in front of his eyes as his head hit the ground harshly, he quickly got back up, and shook it off,

"Not bad . . . but you still didn't stop me enough." Ron said.

Within seconds, the two were locked into a deadly dance that had everyone mesmerized at the timing of the blows, both of whom seemed to land a lot of them, but Dracula finally got the upper hand with a heart punch that staggered Ron backwards a couple of steps, he followed up quickly with a roundhouse kick to the chest, knocking Ron on the ground, winded, but not defeated,

"Yield, boy, I have the advantage . . . don't force me to kill you." Dracula said, a satisfied smile on his face,

"Then you'll have to kill me, because I'm **_NOT_** giving up." Ron stated flatly,

"Foolish boy." Dracula said, preparing to take Ron out with a blast of dark energy, but something began to happen.

Ron looked up at Dracula, who was suddenly shocked into complete stillness, Ron had erupted in a blinding blue-white light, the wounds he had received had begun to heal in front of the undead Prince of Darkness's eyes,

"Looks like I got my second wind." Ron commented, doing a perfect kip up from the ground, and standing on his feet,

"**_INCONCEIVABLE!_**" Dracula shouted, but that was the only word that came out of his mouth, a second later, Ron cut loose with an energy blast that sent Dracula across the street, and hard into the building on the other side,

"Want some more of this?" Ron asked, his body still encased in the blinding aura,

"We will meet another day, Ron Stoppable, and I will have my victory over you." Dracula said, disappearing into the shadows, the fight had drained him of most of his strength, and he needed to return to his coffin, so he could rest,

"Remember the deal, count, the girls are mine." Ron said, emphasizing the terms of the bet that was made between him, and Dracula,

"You can have them, I can always acquire more servants." Dracula's voice echoed throughout the night.

Ron turned back to the house, and walked in, Mr. Barkin walked up, and looked at Ron,

"You look like hell, Stoppable." Mr. Barkin commented,

"Right back atcha, Mr. B." Ron said, a pained smile on his face,

"What do you plan to do with them?" Barkin asked, pointing to the girls, who all looked nervous,

"Well, I'm pretty much stuck with them, so . . . I'll do what I have to do." Ron said, accepting The Lotus Blade from Barkin, and nodding,

"Now what?" Barkin asked,

"I'll need you to go to the old Franklin place north of town, and stay there, I got some friends waiting there for you, pack what you need, and go, don't take any detours or shortcuts, and don't make any stops along the way, they'll be expecting you in about ten, to fifteen minutes." Ron said.

Barkin nodded, and left the house for his garage, a few seconds later, the sound of a car engine, and the crunching of tires on pavement signaled his departure.

"Ladies, can you come in here for a second . . . I need to talk to you all." Ron said, motioning for the girls to come into the room, they all did, eyeing The Lotus Blade, which was still in Ron's hand,

"Are you going to kill us?" Zita asked, frightened out of her mind,

Okay . . . I get the hint." Ron said, placing the sword back around his arm, where it shaped itself into a bracelet.

"What are you gonna do to us?" Monique asked,

"I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're thinking, so get that idea out of your heads right now." Ron said,

"Then what are you going to do?" Bonnie asked,

"Well . . . it all depends on you, Bonnie, each and every one of you." Ron said, still being evasive,

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Marcella Hernandez, who so far, had been among the quietest of the group,

"Well, you heard what happened outside." Ron said, to the nods of all the girls,

"Master made a wager with you, he bet us that he could beat you in a fist fight." Hope said,

"And he lost." Ron replied,

"Does that mean you're our new master?" Tara asked with excitement in her voice,

"Like I said, Tara . . . it all depends on you . . . so, I'm about to give you a choice." Ron said,

"What's the choices?" Monique asked,

"One . . . you can walk away, and I'll not think any differently of you for doing so . . . or . . . I can create a bond between each of you that will lock you to my mind, and soul . . . the choice is yours." Ron said,

"What will happen to us if we accept?" Jessica Tanner asked, her blonde hair falling down into her eyes,

"It'll create a bond that no one can break, not even myself . . . it's a little complicated to explain, but trust me, you'll never have to worry about Dracula giving you orders to do what you don't want to do again." Ron said, this brought several smiles to the girls present,

"Count me in." Monique said,

"Same here." came the voice of Liz Baker, the only other redhead on the squad, besides Kim,

"I'm in." came the voice of Crystal Donovan, the only African-American on the squad,

"Ditto." Zita replied,

"I'm all up in it." Hope replied, smiling widely,

"What about you, Bonnie, you've been pretty quiet." Ron said, looking at the bronzed beauty,

"Well . . . you shoved a sword through my stomach, and now, you tell me that you want to bond with me . . . forgive me if I don't believe you." Bonnie said,

"Bonnie . . . no, all of you . . . listen to me," Ron began, "I had a chance to kill each one of you on several different occasions, I've had you traced from the moment I first found what happened, but I never made a real move against you . . . as for the sword business, Bonnie, that was a point that I made very clear, I easily could've killed you on the spot, but I didn't . . . can anybody answer this question . . . why didn't I?" Ron said,

"Because you knew that were being forced to do things we didn't want to do." Jessica said,

"One right answer." Ron replied,

"You knew that what happened to us wasn't our faults." Hope chimed in,

"That's two." Ron said,

"There's a third?" Crystal asked,

"Yeah, there's a third . . . I cared about you all too much," Ron said flatly, "I doubt you'd believe me on this, but to see what had happened to you all, it hurt me more than any of you would ever know . . . to see what you were put through just tore me up inside every time I thought about it, I swore to myself, from the first time I found out what happened, that I would try to find a way to get you away from him, and here we are." Ron said,

"So, you're saying that you've felt something for each of us?" Bonnie asked, stumped, this was the last thing that she would ever expect to come from the mouth of Ron Stoppable,

"Yes, Bonnie, I have, for a long time now . . . I just kept silent about it . . . mainly because I didn't want to embarrass myself." Ron replied, a kind of lopsided smile on his face,

"What'll happen if we bond with you?" Jessica asked,

"Unfortunately, it'll end up permanently sticking you as Dhampyres, there's no turning back from that, once my power bonds us, you're stuck, that's the price that will be paid, as for me, the price paid is going to be a major power drain, because I don't know if I have enough to start the bonding process." Ron commented,

"It beats being a full vampire, I guess, I'll be able to eat normal food again." Bonnie commented,

"You'll have all of the strengths, and skills of a vampire, without any of the weaknesses . . . well, maybe one weakness ." Ron stated,

"What weakness is that?" Hope asked,

"A monthly thirst for blood." Ron warned,

"Once a month is better than every night . . . alright, I'm in." Bonnie said, smiling a genuine smile,

"Okay, ladies, I need you all to look at me, and do not break eye contact, don't even flinch." Ron said, the girls obeyed, with smiles on their faces,

"I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to be painful, for all of us, so, I'm giving you one last chance to back out now." Ron said, none of the girls moved from their spots,

"Okay, ladies, hang on, this is going to be a wild ride." Ron said.

Suddenly, Ron's body erupted into a blinding blue-white light, a few seconds later, the girls all fell to their knees, screaming in pain, as Ron's powers reached their peak, three bright columns of blue-white light shot up to the sky, two taking off due north, while the other took off due west. When the smoke finally cleared, Mr. Barkin's house lay in shambles, and Ron was kneeling on the floor, the steam billowing off his body,

"Master . . . are you alright?" Bonnie said, running up to Ron, and touching him lightly on the arm,

"That . . . was . . . intense." Ron said evenly, he tried to stand up, but his knees gave out on him, and he collapsed to the floor once again,

"We'll help you master." Jessica said, leaning over, and taking Ron's right arm, while Zita grabbed the left, and flung it over her shoulders, they effortlessly lifted Ron to his feet.

At that same time, the wrist Kimmunicator went off,

"Go, Wade." Ron said, allowing his right arm to come to his face,

"Ron, what happened, we just registered a huge power spike in your location?" Wade said,

"I'll tell you when I get back, Wade." Ron said,

"Yeah, well, we got a real problem with Kim, and Shego, they keep asking for their master." Wade said,

"Put 'em on, it might explain things a little better." Ron said, a few seconds later, Kim's and Shego's faces appeared in front of him,

"Master, are you alright?" Shego asked,

"I'm fine, Shego, just a little tired." Ron replied,

"Master, when are you coming home?" Kim asked,

"Soon, KP, real soon." Ron said, smiling, they retreated, and Wade's face once again appeared on the screen,

"Looks like part two of the prophecy just came true, didn't it?" Wade asked,

"Yeah . . . with a vengeance." Ron said, signing off.

* * *

_We DO NOT own Kim Possible, or Dracula_

_**Doug4422**_

_and_

_**Dragonmaster4381**_

_a.k.a._

_**Epic Quest INC.**_


	8. Chapter 8:  The Moves

_**Save It For Me**_

_by _**_Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons_**

_Don't let your love go astray (_**_save it for me_**

_Don't give your sweet kiss away (_**_save it for me_**

_I know you're feeling blue,_

'_Cause I feel blue like you,_

_I'll be strong as, you are ant wait just as long as you,_

_Don't waste that look I adore (_**_save it for me_**

_Just wait a little bit more, (_**_save it for me_**

_I know that you must cry,_

_Cry, baby, so do I,_

_Just sit tight and, leave on your light 'cause,_

_I'm coming home to your arms,_

_Oh, baby, I'm coming home to your arms,_

_I know that you must cry,_

_Cry, baby, so do I,_

_I'll be strong as, you are, _

_And wait just as long as you,_

_Save it for me ._

Ron arrived in the large foyer of the mansion with ten women in tow, Mr. Barkin was the first to see what was going on, needless to say, he was none too happy,

"**_CHEESE AND CRACKERS, WE'RE BEING INVADED !_**" he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Amp down, Mr. B., we're not being invaded." Ron said calmly, but still weak from the power transfer that bound the girls minds to his.

Brick Flagg was the first to come tearing out of the living room, he stopped short, seeing Ron being carried by Jessica, and Bonnie,

"What the holy hell have you done to Ron ?" Brick said, looking at the girls with a scowl on his face,

"Nothing, Brick ." Ron said, now looking at Bonnie,

"Let's go into the living room, first door on the right." Brick responded, motioning for the girls to follow him, which they did without a word of protest, as Brick took the responsibility of helping Ron into the room.

Once inside, Kim and Shego came running up to Ron and Brick,

"Master, are you alright ?" Kim asked, smiling at Ron,

"I'm fine, KP, just a little bit tired ." Ron explained yet again,

"Let's get him to the sofa." Shego said, taking an arm, and negotiating a weak kneed Ron onto the sofa, he sat down gratefully, no sooner was he seated, than the sofa was filled with Kim, Shego, Monique, Zita, and as many members of the cheer squad the ancient sofa could hold,

"Well, Ron . . . looks like you really **_ARE_** the man ." Wade said, chuckling slightly, before bursting out in a full, booming laugh,

"Oh, stuff a sock in it, Wade ." Ron said, glaring at Wade, who was still laughing as he took a seat, looking intently at Ron,

"What next ?" Mr. Barkin asked,

"Well, first of all, I need to lay down some ground rules to the ladies here, then, I got to hit the sack, I'm about ready to fall over ." Ron stated,

"Right, need some witnesses ?" Brick asked,

"Yeah, thanks ." Ron said, now standing, somewhat weakly, and turning to face the girls in the room,

"Alright, ladies, I got a few things I need to say, and they're kinda important, so I need you to listen to me for the time being ." Ron said, suddenly, all attention in the room was on him.

It was an odd feeling for Ron, to have the rapt attention of an entire room, everyone there hanging on his every word, but it was something he would have to get used to.

"I got three simple rules to be followed, and they're very important . . . rule number one . . . this goes for you ten." Ron stated, pointing to the ten Dhampir in the room,

"The humans in this house are friends of mine, not a meal, so leave your fangs out of their necks . . . rule number two . . . this may be **_MY_** house . . . but I don't want any of you to treat me any differently than when big ugly showed up, and caused all this mess . . . you are all my friends, **_NOT SERVANTS_**, I never did get the whole master, servant thing, and I would appreciate it if you called me by my name . . ." Ron was interrupted at this point by Bonnie,

"Does that mean you want me to be the ice queen again ?" she asked,

"Can I hit her with a plasma blast . . . just to shut her up ?" Shego asked, scowling at Bonnie,

"Dear God, no." Ron said, shaking his head, unbelieving that Shego would propose something like that,

"We're just having fun, master." Bonnie said, now alughing, which caused all the other girls to begin laughing along,

"Oh, I . . . knew that . . . I was just . . . playing along." Ron said, clearly being a little flustered at being taken in by two people he was sure had no sense of humor at all,

"Is it not right that since we are bonded with you that we address you as our master ?" she asked,

"I can see this is gonna need some work ." Ron stated flatly,

"You are our master . . . it wouldn't be proper for us to address you otherwise ." Marcella said,

"You might as well throw in the towel on this one, Ron . . . you've lost ." Brick stated with a chuckle in his voice

"Okay, but as long as it's in private . . . for now, in public, that's a different story, I expect to be addressed as Ron in public ." The girls all nodded at that, and waited for the final rule,

"Rule number three . . . and this is important, ladies, you are all your own person . . . each and every one of you are different, and you all have your own ideas, and choices that you want to make, please, by all means, feel free to make your own decisions, don't come to me for the simple stuff, you know what you want, so, don't be afraid to pursue it ." Ron stated,

"Sounds like fun." Hope said, a devilish smile coming over her face,

"Alright, ladies, the rest of the time is yours, do as you wish, I got some high level confrenceing to do with Barkin, Brick, and Wade, then, I'll be turning in for the night, we got a long day tomorrow ." Ron stated, the girls all turned out of the room, giggling, and smiling.

"That went well." Barkin said, still chuckling at the antics that took place in front of him, and how slow Ron could be in the ways of women,

"Yeah, well, I only hope they leave you in one piece, they looked ready to rape you where you stood, Ron-man." Brick said, laughing out loud,

"You saw that too, huh ?" Ron asked,

"Ron, I got an urgent message coming in from Yamanouchi, patching it through now ." Wade said, and sure enough, the image of Master Sensei appeared above Ron, his wizened features looked peaceful, and happy,

"Ron Stoppable, it is good to see that you are well ." Sensei said,

"It is good to see you again, Sensei, I only wish it was under better circumstances." Ron said,

"We have watched your plight from here, Stoppable-san, we know of your fight against the dark one, we also know that the prophecy of the Warrior of Light is coming true, and that you have taken your place in this world, and tomorrow, we will make sure that you have in your possession, The Orchid Blade . . . the second piece of the puzzle, The Orchid Blade is the sister to the sword already in your possession, and it is one of the final keys to unlocking your true power ." Sensei replied,

"Who's bringing it ?" Ron asked,

"Yori will be arriving with the blade sometime tomorrow afternoon, she took the honor, and has asked to remain there with you ." Sensei stated,

"Master Sensei . . . that is a terminally bad idea." Ron stated,

"Yori has trained all of her life for this time, Stoppable-san, it is her destiny, and as you know, no one can fight destiny." Sensei said,

"I understand, my Master, forgive my ignorance." Ron said, bowing,

"Nothing to forgive, Stoppable-san . . . even the wisest man can be ignorant, if they forget to open their eyes." Sensei stated,

"I will try to be worthy of this honor, Master Sensei, thank you for your patience, and time." Ron stated, bowing low again,

"It is I who am honored to have been your teacher, Stoppable-san . . . now, I must go, be well, my friend ." Sensei said, bowing, and disappearing,

"Well, we'll need to get a room ready for Yori when she shows up." Ron said,

"On it." Barkin said, nodding to Ron,

"I'm cashing it in, guys, I'm beat." Ron said, walking out of the room, and up the stairs to his bedroom.

Ron stood outside of his bedroom door for a few seconds, before opening the door, and walking in, what he saw, nearly made him fall over.

All eleven girls had fit themselves into the massive bed in the room, and they were all looking over at Ron with smiles on their faces, and from all outward appearances, even though the sheets were covering their bodies, Ron had a funny feeling that all of the girls were nude, judging from the amount of clothing strewn all over the floor,

"Uh-huh, and where, pray tell am I supposed to sleep?" Ron asked, arching an eyebrow,

"In the middle, silly ." Tara said, patting the open space between her, and Kim,

"Of course, how dumb can I be." Ron said sarcastically, teleporting out of his clothes, and into the spot in the bed in the exact middle, his final thoughts before drifting off to sleep were of the predicament he now found himself in, and how best to attempt to resolve it.

Ron woke up early the next morning to the sounds of eleven pairs of feet running around the room, when he opened his eyes, he saw the same eleven girls that had been at the house last night, all wearing the same black lace gown, it did very little to hide what the girls were wearing underneath of them, which wasn't much,

"This is a sight I'll have to get used to." Ron said, now sitting up in bed, and smiling,

"Well, good morning, master ." Marcella said, giggling slightly,

"Morning, Marcella . . . sleep well last night ?" Ron asked, somewhat lamely,

"Yes, thanks." Marcella replied, a huge smile on her face,

"Someone want to close the shades, that sun is a little bright this morning." came Bonnie's voice from the adjoining bathroom,

"On it." Ron said, moving to get out of bed, until he realized that his boxers were on the floor with the rest of his clothes, he quickly covered back up, and began blushing heavily,

"Mr. Modesty." Monique said, reaching for the shades, and closing them, cutting the direct sunlight off from the room, while Shego flipped on the lights,

"Weren't so modest last night." Hope said, smiling devilishly,

"Did we . . ." Ron said, cutting himself off,

"No, we didn't." Tara said, now coming out of the bathroom, her hair still damp from taking a shower,

"You were too tired." Shego added,

"How long was I out?" Ron asked,

"Two days." Jessica answered,

"**_TWO DAYS !_**" Ron practically shouted,

"Yeah," Kim said, then she quickly added, "Wade thought it would be a good idea to let you sleep, so you could get your strength back."

"And you agreed with him ." Ron said, looking at the room at large,

"Yeah, we agreed," Crystal said, "you practically wiped yourself out, you needed to sleep, master."

"Okay, I get the hint . . . someone want to hand me my clothes, I got to stop by my place later on today, and pick up the rest of my things." Ron said, as Shego tossed him his clothes, then, it hit him, all of the girls were thinking independently of each other,

"Well . . . thank God that you all kept your own way of thinking, I was worried that you wouldn't." Ron stated, more to himself than anyone in the room,

"We'll go with you." Hope said, her eyes lighting up,

"No," Ron said simply, "too risky still yet, it shouldn't take me a few minutes to get what I need, and get out."

"Master, we want to go with you . . . do you not find us desirable?" Tara said.

Ron quickly looked at eleven faces, all wearing Kim's trademark '_puppy dog pout_,' the same look that Kim used whenever she wanted him to cave in to her will,

"Of course I do . . . it's just . . ." Ron stated, but hesitated, as he looked at each girl in turn, "look . . . I love you ladies too much to want to see any of you get hurt at this stage of the game . . . we're not ready to fight as a team yet . . . and I don't want to risk losing any of you."

"Do you really mean that, or are you just saying that?" Bonnie asked, poking her head out of the bathroom, Ron could see that she was still nude, as her shoulders were still bare,

"Yes, Bonnie, I mean it." Ron said,

"Then I got an idea." Hope replied, reaching for the sash that held the flimsy robe in place, Ron immediately looked in her direction with a face that made her stop in her tracks,

"That's not what love is, Hope, there's more to it than sex." Ron stated,

"Okay . . . I'm a little lost." Jessica said, looking at Ron,

"Love is one of the hardest emotions to describe, Jessie," Ron began, "it's more of a feeling than anything else . . . it's that feeling you get when you're around the right person . . . the feeling that you can take on the world, and win, it's wonderful, but at the same time, it can be terrifying."

"And that's how you feel about us?" Monique asked,

"That's how I've felt about all of you for a long time, Monique . . . it's a feeling that can't be put into words." Ron explained,

"We understand, master, and we'll try to live up to that." Hope said, now walking up to him, and placing a tender kiss on his cheek,

"Good," Ron said, finally getting out of the bed, with his boxers, and his pants on, but still shirtless, "okay, ladies, you can do whatever you wish, I got a few things that need to be done, and then, we'll try to see if we can get some together time in."

The girls giggled, and all filed out of the room, all except Shego, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, her face covered by her hands, Ron could hear tiny sobs escaping from behind them, he walked over to the raven haired beauty, and moved her hands away from her face,

"Hey . . . why the tears?" Ron asked, looking into those emerald green eyes and nearly getting lost in them,

"No one's ever said they loved me like that before." Shego said in between sobs,

"You've got to be kidding me, right ?" Ron asked, Shego smiled a pained sort of half smile, and shook her head,

"How is it all the guys missed you all these years?" Ron asked,

"They didn't . . . I got stuck with the guys that just wanted a quickie, or a nice piece of arm candy for some big social function, they didn't want the real me." Shego stated flatly,

"Well . . . I'd say they were a bunch of damned fools." Ron replied, smiling widely,

"Jerks is more the word I was thinking of." Shego said flatly,

"What about your brothers . . . I'm sure they had some feelings toward you?" Ron said,

"They were too worried about their own vanity to care about me." Shego said,

"I'm not even going to ask about Drakken." Ron said,

"He would've let me die against those things . . . but I guess that's what makes you so different from any other man I've ever met," Shego said, "you've always cared."

"Well . . . I do believe that no life is a waste of time." Ron said, smiling,

"I have one question." Shego said,

"Fire away." Ron said,

"Why me . . . out of all the girls in the world, why did you bond with me?" Shego asked,

"I think the question should be '_why _**_NOT_**_ you_,' Shego . . ." Ron began, "You have a lot to offer, I know it, even if others have overlooked it all these years, you're smart, pretty, and have a knack for improvising that I've only seen in one other person . . . what's not to love about traits like that?" Ron said, finally getting a smile from Shego,

"You really think so?" Shego asked, looking at Ron,

"Hey . . . where's that confidence that I've seen from you ?" Ron asked, looking at the raven-haired beauty with a slight frown. This was so unlike Shego to be this way, and Ron knew it . . . she was bearing her soul to him.

"I guess it's a little shaky . . . has been ever since I watched that freak kill Drakken." Shego said,

"What was Drakken after when Dracula killed him anyway?" Ron asked,

"His coffin, that huge hunk of gold that you and Kim brought back from Romania." Shego replied,

"He cut his hand on the coffin didn't he?" Ron asked,

"Yeah, he did." Shego replied,

"I'm sorry, Shego, but he woke up the beast without even knowing it." Ron commented,

"Master . . . if none of this ever happened, would you have still bonded with me?" Shego asked,

"In a minute, Shego." Ron replied.

This had the effect that Ron was looking for, Shego jumped off the bed, gave Ron a mind numbing kiss, and strolled out of the room with a huge smile on her face.

_Later that afternoon, in the conservatory on the second floor:_

Bonnie had been all over the house looking for Ron, she had not seen him since he had woken up earlier that morning, and was worried about him, when she passed the conservatory, and saw the door was closed,

'_That's strange . . . this door is usually kept open._' she thought to herself, pushing the door open slightly, the beautiful notes of a piano came floating out of the room, and into her ears,

'_Whoever's playing is good . . . real good._' she thought, as she walked into the room, she looked toward the piano, and got the shock of her life.

Ron was sitting on a bench in front of the piano, and playing as though he had been born playing, the melody was one that she had never heard before, but it was beautiful, and reminded her of the love she felt for the young man now sitting at the piano, demonstrating a talent that she never knew he possessed.

"Master . . . can I come in?" she asked,

"Bonnie . . . sure, come on in, and pull up a chair . . . just letting out a little frustration." Ron replied, stopping, and turning to face the bronzed beauty,

"You're mad at him for what he did to us, aren't you?" Bonnie asked, feeling his frustration through the link she shared with him,

"Yeah . . . I never thought that one person could ever make me this angry . . . guess I was wrong." Ron replied, starting back up again,

"Can I ask a question?" Bonnie asked,

"Well, you already did . . . but go ahead . . . what's on your mind?" Ron asked, stopping, and giving his full attention to Bonnie,

"When did you learn to play piano?" she asked, looking at Ron,

"Oh . . . that," Ron stated, "my mom taught me, she was one of the best I've ever heard, she learned from Leonard Bernstein."

"Wow . . . she learned from one of the best . . . I never knew you could play." Bonnie said,

"Besides Kim, and my parents, you're the only other person that's ever heard me play." Ron stated,

"What was that song you were playing?" Bonnie asked,

"Oh, it's an old Jewish love song . . . I forgot the words a long time ago, but I still love the tune." Ron commented,

"It's beautiful." Bonnie said, smiling,

"Thanks." Ron said, then, turning, he noticed a tear trickle down the tanned cheerleader's cheek,

"Hey . . . turn off the water works, huh . . . what's up with the tears?" Ron asked,

"After all of the mean things I've done to you in the past, you chose to bond with me . . . why?" Bonnie asked, the single tear now developing into a full fledged cry fest,

"I was never one to hold a grudge, Bonnie," Ron began, "I knew that it was just an act, you've kept yourself hidden behind the '_Ice Princess_' act for so long that you forgot the real you . . . she's still in there, Bonnie, you just need to let her out."

Bonnie nodded, and smiled a kind of lopsided smile,

"I hid because I had a huge crush on you . . . I have since junior high, I just never said anything because I thought you'd never want to take a chance with me." Bonnie said,

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron asked,

"You were with Kim all the time . . . we all knew that she was very protective of you, so I never tried to make a move on you because of that, instead, I chose to do what I did, and I've hated myself for it . . . every day." Bonnie stated,

"We all make mistakes, Bonnie . . . we're only human." Ron said, smiling,

"This morning, in the bedroom . . . did you really mean it?" Bonnie asked,

"Yes, Bonnie . . . I meant every word of it." Ron stated, this earned him a mind freezing kiss from Bonnie, who giggled at the stupid grin that appeared on Ron's face,

"Yeah . . . good words . . . need to remember." Ron stated, sounding off in his own little world, until Bonnie snapped her fingers under his nose,

"Sorry about that, kinda lost my train of thought." Ron said, shaking his head,

"You can be so funny sometimes, I'm really glad you bonded with me." Bonnie said, smiling,

"Now . . . I got a question for you, Bonnie." Ron said, smiling,

"What's up?" Bonnie asked,

"Who would you like to learn to play piano?" Ron asked, smiling,

"You'd teach me?" Bonnie asked, almost stunned at the offer,

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't plan on it." Ron stated,

"I'd love to." Bonnie said,

"Alright, then, come, and take a seat beside me, ans we'll get started." Ron stated, beginning Bonnie's first piano lesson.

The afternoon seemed to drag on longer than expected, but by 2:00, there was a knock on the front door, and Ron went to answer it, he was not at all shocked when he saw Yori standing at the door, but he was shocked at the words that came out of her mouth,

"Hello, _tono_." Yori said, using the Japanese word for '_master_',

"Uh-oh . . . this has proven interesting." Ron stated, now looking at Yori, and shaking his head somewhat, and moving from in front of the door, allowing Yori to walk into the huge mansion.

"This is where you now call home?" Yori asked, looking around,

"Yep, sure is, I was planning on taking the rest of the group for a little tour later on, care to join us?" Ron asked,

"_Hai, tono_." Yori stated, bowing,

"Yori . . . I'm no one's master, please." Ron stated,

"It is not polite to not refer to you as nothing other than my master." Yori said,

"But try not to call me that in public, please, it might draw too much unneeded attention." Ron stated,

"_Hai_." Yori replied, bowing again.

_A few minutes later:_

Ron had decided to take the girls on a full guided tour of the mansion grounds, and the many levels that they have yet seen. The group had squeezed into an elevator in the foyer, and Ron had hit a button that was concealed behind a small panel he pushed out of the way, once he had hit the button, they began descending into the lower levels of the mansion, when the doors opened, they saw what appeared to be a hallway straight from a comic book.

It was long, and had fluorescent lights embedded in tracks along the junction of the wall, and ceiling, there were several doors in places along both walls. Ron led them down the hall, and stopped in front of a door that was one of the larger,

"I think you're gonna like this," Ron stated, he then looked around, and stared straight ahead, "lights."

The lights came up in the room, they were standing in a large room in which nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be in place,

"Computer . . . access code Stoppable 4391." Ron spoke, in a loud, clear voice,

"Access code confirmed . . . welcome, Ron Stoppable." came a female voice from above their heads,

"Code 318795 . . . activate training program 401 . . . level . . . master." Ron spoke up,

"Training program 401 activated, awaiting command for execution." the female voice replied,

"Okay, ladies, step back, and watch," Ron said, then, turning his concentration back to the computer voice, he stated "Engage."

The room suddenly came alive with a full, detailed training ground, the girls were completely enthralled as Ron went though his paces, slicing every opponent that came at him with the dual swords he now possessed, suddenly, he stopped,

"Computer . . . freeze program." Ron called out, and the action completely stopped in motion,

"Training room . . . very nice." Shego commented, looking around,

"Yep, comes in very handy for whatever you want to learn." Ron replied, then, turning back to the computer, he stated, "Shut down training room simulation."

The room returned to it's natural state at that point, as Ron smiled,

"It took Wade two years to develop his holographic technology to this point, the enemies I fought in this room were holograms." Ron stated,

"If they were holograms, then how come they were cut in two so easily ?" Hope asked,

"Advanced holographic technology, Hope," Ron said, " Wade developed the holographic simulators in this room to the point where the enemies are completely solid, so, be careful, even a holographic punch hurts like hell, as I can vouch for it."

At this point, there were a lot of laughs from the girls, and a few giggles,

"Follow me, and I'll show you the rest of the level." Ron stated, as he turned, he saw Kim, looking at him with the look that meant only one thing,

"You got a question, KP?" Ron asked,

"Yeah . . . how far underneath the mansion are we?" Kim asked,

"Roughly, we're about thirty feet under the basement of the mansion." Ron replied, to several whistles of amazement,

"How long did it take to build all of this?" Crystal asked,

"About a year, we completely gutted the mansion, and rebuilt the interior from the inside, out, the third floor was added during the reconstruction, along with the elevators, and two sub-basements." Ron replied,

"How much did it cost?" Shego asked,

"Three and a half million." Ron replied, again earning several low whistles from the girls,

"I didn't know you had that much." Marcella stated,

"Well . . . I received royalties from Bueno Nacho, for the invention of the Naco, and several patents from Nakasumi Enterprises for the creation of several games for the Z Boy." Ron stated matter-of-factly,

"So, how much are you worth?" Shego asked,

"About ten billion, and rising every month." Ron stated,

Monique suddenly got a wide-eyed look on her face, "I knew you had more money than you let on."

Bonnie was shocked at the surroundings she found herself in, she had no idea that Ron could be able to dream up half the stuff he did in this place, "You knew something was coming, didn't you ?"

"I had a hunch . . . but I wasn't real sure," Ron explained, "let's continue with the tour, shall we?"

The next room they walked into was rather large, and had several lockers scattered around, all with the names of each girl over top of them,

"This is the changing room, in the drawers in each locker, you'll find a wide array of clothing, from training gear, and workout gear, to full battle gear . . . Wade and I took the liberty of creating gear for you girls to wear should we ever need to be called for a mission." Ron stated, as each girl walked up to their respective lockers.

Monique opened up the large door on her locker, and a small hanging rack slid out of it, with an unusual costume on it, it was a black long sleeved bodysuit with no legs, underneath it were a pair of elbow length black leather fingerless gloves, and a pair of black, thigh length, high heeled leather boots,

"That's your battle outfits, Shego . . . you still have your original bodysuit, with a few modifications that Wade and I designed for your use, and Yori . . . yours is a traditional ninja ghi, minus the mask, and hood." Ron explained,

"Nice." Crystal said, a wide smile playing on her face,

"What about practice, getting down some moves in combat?" Hope asked,

"The training room is all yours to use, all you need to do is call for the computer, use your last name, and the number that you see above each locker, that will identify you to the computer's database, the whole system is voice activated, so don't give the wrong code, or you'll be locked out, the training room simulation code is 318795, you then give a program code, there's over 10,000 programs you can choose from, and three levels for each . . . novice . . . normal . . . and master." Ron explained in detail.

The next door they opened led into what could only be described as weapons storage,

"I don't see your swords in here, master ." Zita said, looking around all the walls, and not seeing the familiar blue tinged Lotus Blade, or the green tinged Orchid Blade, the twin swords that Ron was known to use in combat,

"That's because I don't keep them down here." Ron said, rolling up his sleeves, to reveal a blue bracelet on his right arm, and a matching green one on his left arm,

"Master keeps them with him at all times, just as Sensei said he should." Yori said, smiling,

"Yep . . . Sensei is a wise man, and he taught me well, Yori." Ron said, smiling, and leading them out of the room

They moved through the sub level of the mansion quickly, stopping every so often at certain areas, until they reached another door with a small red cross painted on it,

"Medbay?" Tara asked,

"Yep," Ron replied, "I doubted that Middleton Memorial would like to fill thirteen beds at once, and I highly doubt that they have the equipment to fulfill certain needs that most of you ladies have, so, Wade and I fixed this up, and added certain pieces of equipment that work specifically for vampiric health."

"That works." Bonnie responded, smiling widely.

They continued further, and stopped at a small door off to the side of the medlab, Ron reached out, and touched his hand to a pad to the left of the door, and it came open,

"This room should be of some interest to two of you ." Ron said, now turning on the lights to reveal,

"A forensics lab . . . nice touch, master." Monique said, smiling widely, while Hope nodded fervently at her side,

"It really helps out with investigations too . . . since we can now do it all in house, we don't have to wait as long for results." Kim said, smiling,

"That was the general idea, KP," Ron explained, "I kinda got annoyed with forensics analysis taking up too much time in our investigations."

"Is there anything else ?" Bonnie asked,

"Yeah . . . there's a full gym in the next door, with full weight training equipment, and a small track . . . but I'm saving the best for last." Ron said, leading the girls to a huge door at the end of the hallway,

"I think you'll all like this." Ron said, smiling as he opened the door, to reveal a massive hangar bay,

"Wow . . . that's my hovercraft ." Shego replied, looking in shock at her hovercraft, which now stood in the middle of the hangar,

"Yeah . . . Wade and I pulled some serious modifications to it, Shego, it looks the same on the outside, but inside is another story." Ron replied, smiling, he then pointed out another twelve V.T.O.L. aircraft, all sitting in front of launch tubes in a huge semicircle around the hangar,

"What's all that for ?" Marcella asked,

"Notice the black V.T.O.L. sitting in the center of the room ?" Ron asked to the girls, how all nodded,

"That's the main unit that I will be piloting, these twelve units at the launch tubes are independent of the main unit, but they can join up, and create a larger craft that can take all of us to wherever we need to go." he continued,

"Anything else?" Kim asked,

"Yeah, we got a flight simulator at the very back of the room." Ron explained,

"Anything else ?" Tara asked,

"Well . . . there's still one more floor we haven't explored yet, I'll take you down there, and show you ." Ron said, pulling out of his pocket, a small, weird shaped key,

"What's the key for ?" Kim asked,

"This key is the only way to access the next floor, there's only two in existence, I have one, Wade's got the other ." Ron explained,

"What's on the next floor ?" Hope asked,

"Follow me, and I'll show you." Ron replied, leading the group to a service elevator at the rear of the hangar bay, once inside, he inserted the key into a small hole on the panel, and pushed the only button on it, the doors clanged shut, causing Shego to jump quickly,

"What's wrong ?" Ron asked, looking at Shego with worried eyes,

"Nothing, it just reminded me of a prison cell door being closed." Shego explained,

"Oh . . . sorry about that, okay, get ready for a ride, ladies, this baby moves fast." he continued, as the elevator began moving at a breathtaking speed, it took them only a few seconds to reach the next floor.

When the elevator doors opened, they got a view of a cavernous room, with huge machines all throughout the place,

"What is all this ?" Kim asked,

"This is the main powerhouse," Ron explained, "the electrical needs for the complex is more than the city can put out, so Wade designed a power plant that can run the entire mansion, including all of our electrical needs, without outside help ." Ron said,

"Electrical generators ." Crystal said, looking at the massive machines,

"No, these are the convertors, the generators are set a little further down the room, and are nearly inaccessible from here." Ron explained,

"Where do they get their power from?" Hope asked,

"The roof of the garage is one huge solar panel, it collects energy through steam power, which comes through the convertors, and then, it goes into the generators, and is converted into electricity, and stored in the massive batteries that are set into the walls to the left and right of the convertors." Ron said, pointing to five huge metal cylinders set in intervals along both walls,

"Looks like you took a lot of planning to get it right ." Kim said, smiling,

"It took about a year to get it right, but this is the end result, and it works like a charm." Ron replied, smiling widely.

It was at this time, the wrist Kimmunicator went off,

"Go ahead, Wade . . . what's up?" Ron asked,

"Just asking how the tour was coming along ." Wade said, smiling slightly,

"Just finished, we're on our way back up to the ground floor." Ron replied,

"Alright, I'll power down the lower levels when you get back up, see you in a few." Wade said, as he signed off.

"Okay, ladies, time to get back upstairs, it's about lunch time anyway." Ron said, ushering the girls onto the elevator, and pushing the button to get back up to the ground floor.

_We _**_DO NOT _**_own Kim Possible, or Count Dracula,_

_**Doug4422**_

_and_

_**Dragonmaster4381**_

_a.k.a._

_**Epic Quest INC**_


	9. Chapter 9: Patterns, Ninjas, and Gill

**Chapter 9**

**Patterns, Ninjas, and Gill**

_**Smoke on the Water**_

_by_

_**Deep Purple**_

_We all came out to Montreaux,_

_On the Lake Geneva shoreline,_

_To make records with a mobile,_

_We didn't have a lot of time,_

_Frank Zappa and the mothers,_

_Were at the best place around,_

'_Till some stupid with a flare gun,_

_Burned the place to the ground,_

_Smoke on the water,_

_A fire in the sky,_

_Smoke on the water, (**burnin' it down**)_

_They burned down the gambling house,_

_It died with an awful sound,_

_Funky Claude was running in and out,_

_Pulling kids out the ground,_

_When it all was over,_

_We had to find another place,_

_But Swiss time was running out,_

_Looked like we would lose the race,_

_Smoke on the water,_

_A fire in the sky,_

_Smoke on the water,_

_We ended up at the Grand Hotel,_

_It was empty, cold and bare,_

_With the Rolling truck Stones things outside,_

_Makin' our music there,_

_With a few red lights, and a few old beds,_

_We made a place to sweat,_

_No matter what we get from this, _

_I know we'll never forget,_

_Smoke on the water,_

_A fire in the sky,_

_Smoke on the water._

Another two days had gone by since Ron had awakened after bonding with the twelve girls that now occupied his home with him, and with it came some rather interesting, and drastic changes . . . the least of which being the girls' knack for continually calling Ron "_master_," despite his constant objections, and protests to the contrary, the most of it, being the little nuances, and differences in each girl that Ron needed to get used to.

Marcella, for example, had a habit of constantly being found in the gym of the expansive mansion complex, Monique could more often than not, be found in the chemistry lab that Ron had built for her purposes, but perhaps the one that had the most quirks to her, was Hope, more often than not, she could be found walking the sub levels of the mansion, either in the forensics lab, getting accustomed to the equipment located within, or in the training room, where she always seemed to push herself past her limits, which is where Ron found her when he decided to go for a training session,

"Hope . . . what's going on?" Ron asked, looking at Hope, leaning heavily against the wall, she was wearing her battle gear, breathing heavily, and sweating profusely,

"Just . . . working out." she panted, looking at Ron with a smile on her face,

"You exhausted yourself again, didn't you?" Ron asked, looking at Hope with a slight frown. She nodded,

"Why do you do that to yourself?" Ron asked,

"I want to be able to protect you, master." Hope explained, now sliding into a sitting position against the wall, her breathing beginning to settle down, and even out,

"Honey . . . the person you really need to protect, is yourself." Ron said, sitting down next to her, and placing one of his massive hands on her small shoulder,

"Master . . . I have a question . . . why did you bond with us after what happened?" Hope asked, this question seemed to floor Ron somewhat,

"Honey . . . I bonded with you to keep him from hurting you anymore . . . that . . . and I love you all." he explained,

"But . . . I'm nothing more than a monster . . . how could you possibly love me?" Hope asked, her head hanging,

"**_WHAT_** left field did **_THAT_** come out of?" Ron asked, somewhat incensed at the notion that Hope would think of herself as a monster,

"Master, look at me," Hope replied, her fangs now showing, and her eyes turning red, " what would you consider me if I'm not a monster?"

"How about a woman that was in the wrong place at the wrong time . . . this isn't your fault, Hope . . . and no, I don't consider you a monster, and I never want to hear you call yourself that again." Ron said, looking at Hope with concerned eyes,

"Master . . . if this never happened, would you have still bonded with us?" Hope asked, echoing Shego's comments from two days ago,

"Without a second thought, Hope." Ron said, not hesitating as he did so. Hope smiled weakly, and proceeded to fall asleep where she sat,

'_I'm starting to sense a pattern here._' Ron thought to himself, as he picked Hope off the floor of the training room, and carried her to the elevator, and the waiting bedroom on the second floor, once the elevator door opened, he nearly ran headlong into Shego,

"Hope wore herself out again, didn't she?" Shego asked, spotting the sleeping woman in Ron's arms,

"Yeah . . . that's the second time in as many days." Ron said, as Shego opened the door to the master bedroom, and followed Ron into the room, where he eased Hope into the bed, and covered her body with the sheets,

"What was it this time?" Shego asked,

"Same thing as always, she wanted to protect me." Ron said, not meeting Shego's gaze,

"She doesn't need to push herself so hard." Shego commented, now looking at Hope's sleeping form,

"That's not what floored me, though . . . she called herself a monster." Ron said,

"**_WHAT!_**" Shego shouted, clearly unprepared for what Ron had said,

"Yeah, I thought the same thing.' Ron replied, shaking his head,

"She's not the monster. It's Dracula." Shego commented,

"Yeah . . . listen, I need to go to the conservatory, we'll talk later, okay." Ron said, turning, and walking in the opposite direction from where Shego was heading,

'_I only wish there was something I could do for you, master . . . I hate seeing you like this._' Shego thought to herself, as a single tear slid down her cheek.

As the morning wore on, Ron began to notice certain changes, and a slight pattern in the girls, most of whom were trying, unsuccessfully, to hide the bite marks on their necks, which were still plainly visible at the base of the neck, on the right side, he asked Kim about it,

"They're kind of ugly, and to be honest . . . I'm kind of embarrassed by them." she replied, she had tied a small silk scarf at the base of her neck, in a failed attempt to hide the marks, which were still peeking out just above the scarf.

Ron felt his heart break, hearing these words from Kim made him feel as though someone had cut off his legs, and arms, leaving nothing but a defenseless torso, and head.

* * *

_Later that afternoon:_

Hope had awakened, and changed back into her trademark pink dress, she was wondering the house, looking for Ron, who seemed to be nowhere around, she decided to go to the changing room, and put her battle gear away, upon coming out of it, she heard some sounds coming from the training room, when she walked in, she saw Ron, fighting with reckless abandon,

"Master." Hope said, hoping that Ron wouldn't react too fast, it wasn't to be so,

"Jeeze, Hope . . . are you **_trying_** to get hurt?" Ron asked, now lowering The Lotus Blade, which was only a quarter of an inch from Hope's neck,

"No . . . I was just curious on what was happening in here." Hope said,

"Just doing some practice . . . needing to let off some steam." Ron replied, returning to the simulation he was working on,

"It's about what I said earlier, isn't it?" Hope asked,

"Computer, end simulation," Ron said, then, turning to Hope, he said, "that's part of it."

"I'm sorry, master . . . I don't know what came over me." Hope said,

"Hey, don't worry about it . . . you said what was on your mind . . . I value that, Hope, you weren't afraid to say how you felt at the time." Ron replied,

"There's more, isn't there." Hope said, not taking her eyes off Ron,

"Yeah . . . I'm kind of sensing a pattern, it seems that none of you like the current sitch you're in." Ron explained,

"I know I'm not too happy with it . . . but since I'm stuck with it . . . I'll have to make the best of it." Hope replied,

"Honey . . . I know that none of you are really happy with how things turned out . . . but there's really nothing I can do to bring you back to humanity, if I tried, I could kill you all, along with me, and that's something I just can't risk at the moment." Ron said, hanging his head, and looking at the floor,

"Then don't try it," Hope said bluntly, "it's not worth risking your life over."

"Maybe you're right." Ron said, now looking at Hope with a smile on his face, suddenly, Hope got a devilish gleam in her eyes as she walked up to Ron, and entwined her arms around his neck,

"Maybe I can think of something else to keep your mind occupied for the time being." Hope said, in a smoky voice that sent the hairs on the back of Ron's neck standing on end,

"Computer, access code 401, lock training room doors." Ron said, before Hope sealed her mouth over his in a steamy kiss that could've fogged up the windows anywhere else,

"Something tells me that you have no idea of putting up a fight." Hope said, now sliding out of her dress to reveal her body to him.

At that moment, there was a knock on the training room door, and Brick's voice could be heard outside,

"Ron . . . if you plan to do that again, you'd better sound proof the room, before Wade sets off the alarm again." Brick stated, but Ron was too busy to hear what was said.

It was only the day beforehand, that Ron had locked the training room, and had a rather intense sexual experience with Shego and Bonnie, and Wade, thinking that the mansion was under attack, had set off the intrusion alarm, until it finally came to him that Ron was having a '_horizontal workout_' in the training room, it took nearly all day to remove the weird grin from Ron's face.

"What's going on down there, Brick, sounds like someone's strangling a cat?" Wade said over the intercom,

"Three guesses, buddy." Brick replied, sniggering slightly,

"Let me guess, one of the girls thought a '_vertical workout_' was in order." Wade said,

"Yeah . . . and from the sounds of it, it's Hope." Brick replied,

"Well . . . at least it's not Shego and Bonnie this time." Wade laughed,

"Yeah . . . if I remember correctly when that happened, Shego telepathically blew out what, three windows out of the garage?" Brick asked,

"Four . . . out of eleven, and it took the rest of the day to get that goofy smile off Ron's face." Wade remarked, laughing just as hard as Brick,

"Well . . . I'm having a bit of a problem, Wade, the computer isn't accepting my access codes, can you reset the system for me?" Brick asked,

"Yeah . . . gimme a minute," Wade replied, a few seconds later, he finished, "and done, you're all set, Brick."

"Computer, code Flagg 3941, access code 401, soundproof training room." Brick said,

"Access code granted, training room now soundproofed." came the computer reply,

"I'm coming back up, Wade, it's still early enough to get some lunch." Brick commented, walking toward the elevator, still laughing.

* * *

_Later that evening:_

It was shortly before dinner that Ron finally came up from the training room, having looked completely drained,

"Hope did a number on you, didn't she, Ron-man." Brick said, smiling in Ron's direction, the answer was forthcoming, as Hope appeared at Ron's arm, with a covered bottle in her hand,

"Yeah, she decided to get some '_horizontal training_' in." Ron replied, rubbing his shoulders, and trying to shake a cramp out of his right leg,

"And you didn't exactly put up a fight, you know." Hope remarked, beaming.

It was at this time, that a knock came at the front door,

"It never rains, but it pours." Ron said, shaking his head as he walked to the front door.

The first thing that struck him as odd about the visitor, was the fact that he was wearing the traditional clothes of the person that normally delivered the blood supplies from the slaughterhouse, but he didn't look like the normal delivery driver,

"Where's Max?" Ron asked, looking at the delivery person with a frown, at this time, eight of the twelve girls had formed up near the back of the foyer,

"Called in sick, I'm working in his place." the man said, in a slightly familiar voice,

"You're a little late, we got this months supply . . . this morning." Ron said, comprehension suddenly coming across his face, the driver crossed the threshold of the front door, and it snapped shut immediately,

"Hello, outsider." Fukushima said, now removing the hat that covered his face,

"Lock this place down, Wade." Ron shouted, now reaching for The Lotus Blade, and the Orchid Blade, the twin kitana's he always carried with him, the rest of the female inhabitants suddenly filled the foyer, the ten dhampir in the room let out a loud chorus of hisses at the appearance of one of Dracula's guardians,

"Blood sucking traitors." Fukushima said contemptuously,

"Beats being what you are." Bonnie said, her skin losing most of its color, her fangs bared, and her eyes a deep blood red,

"You'd better start talking, Fukushima, if you value your undead existence." Ron said, now dropping into a battle stance.

Hope took a few steps forward, when Kim grabbed her arm,

"Don't worry about it, Hope, it's only one of them, master should be able to handle him." she said, Hope stepped back,

"Foolish girl, do you think I came alone?" Fukushima asked, and before the interior defenses could lock down the mansion, several black clad ninjas burst through the door, and stood behind their master, at the same time, the heavy titanium blast shields clanged shut over the doors, and walls, trapping the enemies within the mansion,

"Not too bad, Fukushima, but now you're stuck here with us . . . your move." Ron said, getting an evil smirk on his face.

The attack happened in seconds, and all it took was for one of the ninjas to just barely twitch, as soon as that happened, Bonnie let out a hair raising shriek, and took off after the nearest one, hitting it with a nicely placed palm strike to the ribs, Ron heard a loud crack, and watched the ninja fall, nursing a couple of broken ribs.

Within seconds, it was a free-for-all in the foyer of the huge mansion complex, as the twelve girls began fighting off what appeared to be an almost endless supply of ninjas, for the most part, the girls were holding their own quite well, even Tara was keeping the pace with the rest.

Jessica had a hold of two of the black clad ninjas, and had one in a headlock, while the other was trying to get out of a vicelike grip she had on its throat,

"Let me see your face, and I'll cure all your ills." Jessica said, ripping the mask off the one she was throttling, once she did so, she let go of the other, and staggered backwards, it was Ed Stoppable, Ron's father, whom he thought he had killed only a few weeks before, then, the words came back to him,

'_I still have uses for these two lumps of _flesh.' the words seemed to echo through Ron like a thunderbolt, he turned to look at Fukushima, the rage, and anger becoming more noticeable in his face,

"**_WHY COULDN'T YOU LET THEM REST IN PEACE? _**" Ron raged, his death gaze fixed onto Fukushima with a look that would make a normal man run for his life,

"All's fair in war, outsider, and this is a war." Fukushima said, a sneer in his voice, and a smirk on his face,

"I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, boy." Ron said, now charging the tormentor of what would most certainly be tonight's nightmares.

Ron hit Fukushima with a well-placed side kick, sending him bouncing off the heavy titanium blast door that had clanged shut before the fight started, Fukushima got back up, somewhat dazed.

"Not bad, outsider, but still not good enough." Fukushima said, as he charged against Ron,

"That was just a warm up." Ron said, now connecting with a side kick to the gut, causing Fukushima to drop to his knees,

"Want some more?" Ron asked, looking down at the man that he had hated upon first sight.

Meanwhile, Jessica had unmasked several of the remaining ninjas, and discovered that two of them were Ron's parents, Ed, and Ellen Stoppable, she stayed clear of them not wanting to be the one responsible for killing her master's parents, so, Crystal had stepped forward, and took up the fight with them,

"I'm not going to let you torment my master any further." she said, her anger overriding her senses.

It was with tears in her eyes, that she drew her blood sword, and on one clean motion, she cut their heads from their bodies,

"Oh, my God." Bonnie gasped, as she watched the forms of Ron's parents hit the floor,

"Fight now, cry later." Kim said over her shoulder to Bonnie, who was rooted to the spot, looking intently at Crystal, who seemed too shocked to move,

"Head in the game, Crystal." Zita shouted, fighting off four ninjas at once, and holding her ground against them nicely,

"Crystal, get your head in the game . . . **_NOW!_**" Shego screamed, pushing the teenager out of the way, and hitting an oncoming ninja with a plasma blast of such power, that he was reduced to a glowing, greenish colored goo in a matter of seconds.

This seemed to snap Crystal back to reality, because she began fighting with a fierce abandon that only Jessica seemed to match,

"You want to play rough . . . **_FINE BY ME!_**" Crystal shouted, driving her fist through the closest ninja, using her vampiric strength to her advantage, she seemed to be angered beyond all thought, and was completely lost in her rage.

Ron, on the other hand, had hit Fukushima so hard, he hit the wall, and several pieces of the drywall, and plaster fell from it, exposing the wall studs behind it,

"If you wish to remain alive, you'd better start talking." Ron said, staring at Fukushima with a death glare,

"Drop dead, outsider." Fukushima replied, with a sadistic smile,

"Shego . . . if you please." Ron commented, as the raven-haired vixen walked up, and stared at Fukushima.

She placed her fingertips to her temples, and concentrated, when she lowered them, her eyes were glowing green, and she seemed to be in a kind of trance.

"He was operating alone, master." Shego said, looking at Ron,

"So, Dracula has no idea he's here?" Ron asked,

"No . . . fang boy has no clue." Shego said, smiling slightly,

"What happened to Max?" Ron asked,

"He's dead . . . Fukushima fed on him." Shego said, looking down at the floor,

"What's his damage?" Ron asked,

"He was trying to redeem himself in the eyes of his master." Shego replied,

"Not today . . . ain't happening." Ron said, drawing back the twin swords, and slicing off Fukushima's head with a crossway's swipe at his neck.

"Brick, open the windows." Ron said, looking at Brick, no expression on his face.

Brick nodded, as Ron's body began to glow a bluish white, and Fukushima's body fell into dust onto the floor,

"Grab onto something, ladies, the wind is about to kick up in here." Ron said, still showing no emotion, all of the girls quickly grabbed onto the banister and held on for dear life,

"Windows and rood are open, buddy, go for it." Brick said, Ron nodded, and the wind kicked up quickly, scattering Fukushima's ashes out of the many windows and doors that dotted the first floor, Ron then turned, and walked out of the room, not speaking a word,

"Master." Bonnie said, watching Ron walk away, Kim placed a hand on her shoulder, and shook her head,

"Let him go, Bonnie . . . he needs some time alone." Kim said, looking at the floor,

"What's wrong with him?" Marcella asked, Kim looked at the floor, and the remains of Ron's parents,

"That's the second time he's had to either kill, or watch his parents be killed." Kim said,

"Why couldn't that fang faced butthead leave masters' parents out of it . . . why did he force master to do that again?" Crystal said, the tears flowing down her face freely,

"They were looking for a way to hurt Ron, break his spirit." Brick said, shaking his head,

"Dracula thought that if he could break Ron's spirit, he could easily get a win, and kill him." Barkin finished, still looking at the staircase, where only a few seconds before, Ron walked up, and disappeared.

* * *

_The next morning:_

Ron woke up before any of the girls that shared his bed, walked downstairs, and poured a large cup of coffee, he was sipping on it when Wade appeared,

"You okay, Ron?" Wade asked, still remembering the events from the night before,

"I'm fine, Wade." Ron said, somewhat hollowly,

"No, you're not . . . you're getting stir crazy . . . you need to get out of this mansion, and do something." Wade said,

"Like what?" Ron said, slamming his cup down on the table, and cracking it down the side,

"Why not take the girls, and go on a shopping trip . . . that ought to ease your feelings a bit." Wade replied, still not meeting Ron's eyes,

"Now **_THAT_** sounds like a good idea." Ron said, nodding,

"Good thing too, the girls are getting a little restless." Wade said, smiling.

Ron had just finished his coffee when the girls came down the stairs, once again clad in the wispy black lace robes that they somehow procured, and sat down at the table, all looking consolingly at Ron, who suddenly got an idea,

"Ladies, I got an idea." Ron said, the girls all perked up, and looked at Ron intently,

"What's up?" Shego asked,

"All of you go up, get dressed, and meet me in the garage, I'm making some plans to go into town, and you're all invited to come along." Ron said, smiling, the girls all shrieked, and headed upstairs,

"Do you have any idea what you just got yourself into?" Brick asked,

"Oh, yeah . . . I'm ready for it." Ron said, smiling, pulling out a small envelope,

"What's in there?" Wade asked,

"Something for the girls." Ron said, still smiling when the girls had arrived back in the kitchen,

"What's for us?" Kim asked,

"These." Ron said, pulling twelve credit cards out of the envelope, and handing them to the girl they belonged to, as he did so, each girl looked up at Ron, and smiled,

"There's a ten thousand dollar limit on them, so don't spend it all in one place." Ron said, smiling,

"No plans on it." Tara said, placing the card into her purse, and smiling up at Ron,

"Definitely not." Shego said, following Tara's lead, and placing hers into a wallet in her purse,

"Alright, there's a couple of vans in the garage, and Brick has finished tuning them up, so, we're good to go." Ron said, smiling.

* * *

_At Middleton Mall:_

Ron led the girls up to the front doors of Club Banana, the girls were smiling, and looking at a sign that Ron couldn't read,

"Okay, ladies . . . here you go . . . we're all here, and ready to go." Ron said, smiling,

"Thank you, master." Hope said, wearing an '_I know something you don't_' look, once the girls stepped aside, Ron looked up, there was a sign hanging over the door, that read:

_**On sale at Club Banana now:**_

_**Victoria's Secret**_

"Dude . . . you **_sooo_** messed up." Brick said, smirking,

Ron grimaced, "Ya think?"

"Maybe." Brick said,

"Well . . . we need provisions, bud, the girls might not need food, but us normal people do." Ron said, smiling slightly,

"Right." Brick said, following Ron to the grocery store that was attached to the mall.

* * *

_Inside Club Banana:_

The girls gathered around several racks of skimpy lingerie that hung along one wall, Jessica caught hold of a frilly pair of blue panties, that left very little to the imagination, and said,

"I think master might like me in this."

"Oh . . . I'm almost positive he'll like you in that, Jessica." Hope commented, a wicked smile playing across her face,

"How do you know that?" Crystal asked, now turning to look at Hope,

"Let's just say that master and I had a nice little workout last night." Hope said, that devilish grin still on her face,

"You didn't!" Zita said, now looking at Hope with a smile on her face, Zita knew what Ron was like during something like that, as did Shego, Bonnie, and Kim for that matter, who had Ron before all but one of the girls,

"Yes I did." Hope said, dropping the subject at that,

"I had him before you did." Bonnie and Shego chimed in unison,

"I had him long before any of this started." Kim said eluding to their first time together, about a month and a half after they had started dating,

"I got him first, though, Kim." Zita reminded her, smiling,

"Thanks for reminding me, Captain Obvious." Kim said, looking at Zita with a slight smile on her face,

"I aim to please." Zita replied, a huge smile on her face.

It was at this time, that Shego walked out of the dressing room she had disappeared into, smiling widely,

"How do I look?" she asked, turning on the spot, the girls all looked at Shego, and smiled,

"You're gonna blow off his shoes with that outfit, Shego." Marcella commented.

Shego was dressed in an emerald green dress that had a plunging neckline that ran to her navel, the dress was slit on both sides, up to her waist, showing off her long, shapely legs, and it was backless, the only thing holding the neckline in place was a simple silk sash that was tied in a crisscross pattern across her bosom, showing an ample amount of cleavage, on her feet, were matching thigh length heeled boots, in the same emerald green color, she was also wearing emerald green elbow length gloves,

"I aim to please." Shego replied, smiling widely.

By the time the girls were finished shopping, Shego walked out with the most bags, having bought an almost entirely new wardrobe, mostly every day wear, but it was still enough to be appealing to the eye whenever she were to wear them,

"Kim . . . come over here." came Monique's voice from behind a display, showing off bottle after bottle of expensive perfume,

"Sure thing, Monique." Kim said, separating herself from the rest of the girls, and walking over to where Monique stood.

* * *

_Meanwhile at the grocery store:_

Brick and Ron walked into the grocery store, and consulted a small list that Ron had brought with him, Ron walked up to certain racks, and began pulling stuff off the shelves, then, they turned, and found themselves at the fresh fruits and vegetables area of the store,

"Brick, I need you to go and grab me a ten-pound bag of potatoes." Ron said, looking at Brick, who nodded,

"We ought to pick up some more of this while we're at it, so Wade can cook it down, and make some juice from it." Brick said, pointing to a bin of garlic cloves,

"Yeah, we already used up all our stores of it." Ron replied, grabbing a bag, and measuring out five pounds of garlic, that's when a horrible smell hit his nose,

"So . . . I never thought you'd show your face around me again for a while, didn't take long, did it?" Ron said, turning on the spot, and staring at the face of Dracula,

"I am not here to fight, Mr. Stoppable." Dracula replied, looking at Ron's face, and smiling slightly,

"Oh, really, then why are you here?" Ron asked,

"I'm here to tell you to give up on trying to stop me. I will have my bride." Dracula replied,

"Over my dead body, fang-face." Ron replied, his voice holding a deadly edge,

"You are fighting a losing battle, Stoppable . . . I haven't even used my full power against you yet." Dracula said,

"Neither have I." Ron replied, smiling a deadly smile,

"Foolish boy . . . you will die, and for what?" Dracula said,

"If it's to stop you . . . then I'll die happy." Ron replied, still smiling,

"Then when next we meet . . . only one of us will walk away." Dracula said, vanishing on the spot,

"Whatever." Ron said, shaking off Dracula's last remark,

At that time, Brick came around the corner, with a ten pound bag of potatoes in his hands,

"What's up, Ron . . . you look like you saw a ghost?" Brick said, looking at Ron, who was still at the ready,

"I just got a visit from a certain fanged menace." Ron said, frowning,

"Dracula, here . . . but it's the middle of the day." Brick said, still thinking of the old novel that was written by Bram Stoker many years before,

"He can walk around in the daytime." Ron said,

"I always thought that vampires couldn't walk around in the day." Brick said,

"Not the case, that was fiction, Brick . . . _fiction_." Ron replied, putting a heavy emphasis on the last word,

"Okay, okay, I get the point." Brick said, as they paid for their groceries, and began heading for the door, but Ron stopped dead in his tracks, Kim's voice had cut through his mind like a sharp knife,

"**_MASTER . . . HELP ME!_**"

"Brick . . . KP's in trouble . . . step on it." Ron said, taking off in a dead run,

"Uh-oh . . . this is not good." Brick replied, following Ron's lead.

* * *

_At Club Banana:_

Ron reached Club Banana, and looked around, there were only ten of the girls outside, Kim and Monique weren't with them,

"Where's Kim and Monique?" Ron asked, looking at the girls assembled,

"Somewhere in the store, master," Marcella replied, "she and Monique saw some perfume setups in the back of the store."

"Stay here with the ladies, Brick . . . I got to get in there, and find out what the hell's going on." Ron said dashing into the room, and straight to the back of the store, at the same time, Brick pulled out a set of matching, nickel plated, pearl handled Colt M-1911A1 .45 caliber pistols, and pulled back the hammers on both weapons.

Ron got to the back of the store rather quickly, looking around very carefully, he saw Kim and Monique, Kim was laying on the floor, and Monique was struggling to pull her out of some green muck,

"**_HE'S AFTER ME, MASTER!_**" Kim said, pointing over Ron's shoulder, who didn't turn around, he realized who it was,

"Hey, Gill . . . decided to bring your grudge out into the open, I see?" Ron said, turning slowly on the spot, and coming face-to-face with the fish-like abomination that was Gill,

"Hello, squeeb . . . actually, I'm here to take the cheerleader, and bring her to Dracula . . . he's kinda paid me well for the trouble." Gill said, smiling evilly,

"Doubt it . . . not now . . . not ever, fish face." Ron said, drawing both swords, and dropping into a battle stance,

"You want to fight me. You have really got to be desperate, squeeb." Gill said, laughing slightly,

"Just bring it, shall we?" Ron said, smiling sheepishly,

"Fine by me." Gill said, shooting muck blasts from his hands, Ron simply knocked them away from him, and they splattered on the walls,

"You're good, squeeb." Gill said, still smirking slightly,

"You'll find I'm full of surprises." Ron said, now charging at the amphibian monster, who stood, shocked on the spot.

Ron made a swipe at Gill's chest, but instead of cutting through the flesh on the monster's chest, he simply cut off the claws on the monster's hands, the fins on Gill's arms turned into long blades, and he began slashing at Ron, and struck gold when he hit, cutting Ron across the chest deeply,

"That stung." Ron said, shaking his head, and healing the cut across his chest, but it didn't heal completely,

"Poison tipped blades." Gill said, smiling widely, showing several dagger-like teeth, Ron swayed slightly, and fell to one knee.

"Good hit, Gill." Ron said his vision becoming a little fuzzy, his body fighting to rid itself of the poison that had invaded it.

"Master . . . floor." came a voice from the door, Ron turned, and saw Shego, her hands encased in the familiar green plasma that Ron knew all too well.

Ron dropped, and laid himself flat on the floor, just as Shego let go with a powerful plasma blast that seemed to unbalance her, the blast found its mark, hitting Gill directly in the chest.

The amphibian monster burst into green flames, shrieking, and shouting with pain,

"Hey, Gill . . . you're fired." Ron said, now sending his own power blast at Gill, who exploded as the blast made contact with his body,

"Master, are you okay?" Monique asked, now kneeling at Ron's side,

"Poison." Ron said, now holding onto his chest,

"Oh, God . . . this is **_NOT_** good." Monique said, now looking at Ron's chest, goose bumps erupting up her arms, and down the back of her neck,

"Oh, God." Tara remarked, now reaching Ron's side,

"He's been poisoned." Monique commented, looking at Tara, who was now pulling out a small medical bag, and taking out a portable kind of machine,

"Cyanide, there wasn't enough to kill him right away, but there's enough to make him sick for a while." Tara said, now taking a small bit of blood from Ron's open wound, and checking it,

"No reaction to the antidote, I should get it into him quick." Tara said, now pulling out a syringe, removing the cap, exposing the sharp needle at the end, pushing the needle into his arm, and pushing down on the plunger, the antidote was injected into his body completely,

"It'll be a few minutes before it takes effect, we need to get him back to the mansion, so he can rest for the time being." Tara said, grabbing onto an arm, as Monique finally broke Kim's bonds,

"This stuff was strong enough to keep a vampire immobile, thank God that fish-faced thing is gone." Monique said, Tara nodded, pulled Ron to his feet, and took off for the entrance.

* * *

_Later that night:_

Ron had awakened in the early evening, and left the house, without so much as a word, he was now at the cemetery, looking around it, he saw his old family mausoleum, he walked up to it, and looked around, there was a small pond just behind it. The tomb was made of granite, and appeared as though it was built right into the hillside that it stood in front of,

"How did you get in here, Dracula . . . how did you find my family tomb?" Ron said, looking around, he knew that Dracula was nearby, he could feel it, he had also seen several dark silhouettes go into the tomb, and not come out, this struck Ron as curious, he figured that Dracula was using this as a possible transport site to wherever he was hiding at the moment, so, he decided that he would never use this area as an entrance to where he needed to go again.

"Kiss this one goodbye, fang boy." Ron said, his body lighting up with a bright, bluish-white glow, a few seconds later, the mausoleum exploded, sending pieces of it all over the place, the smoke was so thick in the air, it looked like an eerie fog over the waters of the pond, pleased, Ron teleported out of sight, and left the burning wreck of the mausoleum, his family's traditional burial place, ablaze, turning the area from night, into day.

* * *

_We _**_DO NOT _**_own Kim Possible, or Dracula_

_**Doug4422**_

_and_

_**Dragonmaster4381**_

_a.k.a._

_**Epic Quest INC.**_


	10. Chapter 10:  No More Illusions

**Chapter 10**

**No More Illusions**

_**In My Life**_

_by_

_**The Beatles**_

_There are places I remember,_

_All my life, though some have changed,_

_Some forever, not for better,_

_Some have gone,_

_And some remain,_

_Oh, these places have their moments,_

_With lovers, and friends, I still can recall,_

_Some are dead, and some are living,_

_In my life, I've loved them all,_

_But of all these friends, and lovers,_

_There is no one, compares with you,_

_And these memories lose their meaning,_

_When I think of love as something new,_

_Oh, I know I'll never lose affection,_

_For people, and things, that went before,_

_I know I'll often stop and think about them,_

_In my life, I love you more._

_Though I know I'll never lose affection,_

_For people and things, that went before,_

_I know I'll often stop, and think about them,_

_In my life, I love you more,_

_In my life,_

_I love you more . _

Ron was awakened the next morning early by the girls, who were already awake, and dressed, Ron smiled, as his feet found the floor,

"What's the occasion?" Ron asked, looking around the room, and all the smiling happy faces,

"It's a school day, did you forget?" Tara asked,

"We've already missed about two weeks of school, Tara, it would look kind of weird if we showed up now." Ron commented,

"Doesn't matter, we still have an education that needs to be finished." Bonnie commented,

"Oh, alright, I'm up, let's do this." Ron said, now pulling on a pair of pants, and a shirt over his head.

* * *

_Middleton High School, later that same day:_

Ron and the girls arrived at the school just in time to raid their lockers, and get to their first class of the day, Chemistry, Mr. Barkin had made arrangements to have all of Ron's entourage of girls in the same classes as him, at the same times as him.

"Hey, Ron, would you like help with your _formula?_" came Monique's sultry voice in his ear, as a female leg slid up his own, he kind of figured that something like this might happen, and figured that Barkin did this just to torment him,

"Monique, concentrate on the beaker, here." Ron said, watching as Monique spilled some of the chemical she was supposed to be mixing into the beaker, onto the table,

"Oops." Monique replied, now mopping it up, and tossing the sodden rag into the bin nearest them.

Nearby, at the table next to Ron, and Monique, Brick Flagg and his lab partner, Bonnie, were teamed up, and doing rather well, until Bonnie saw the proceedings, and gave Brick a devilish wink,

"Watch this," she commented to Brick, as she sauntered up to Ron's table, "hey, Ron, could you do me a favor, and light my Bunsen Burner for me?" she added, looking at Ron with smoky eyes, and speaking in a very sultry voice that made the hairs on the back of Ron's neck stand on end,

Ron began to wonder if things were going to be like this all day, and he was just about right, as the second class of the day, Latin came up, this time, it was Marcella that was messing with Ron's head.

"Hey, Ron," came a quiet female voice from behind him, " I got something for you." and over his head flew a note, folded into a nice square, he unfolded it and began to read it, as soon as he opened the letter, his face turned several different shades of embarrassed redness,

"Uh, very flattering, Marcella." Ron said, smiling back at her,

"Thank you." Marcella said, laughing slightly.

Once again, Brick was working directly behind Ron, with his current assignment partner, Kim, who got a smirk on her face, when she noticed that the letter that Marcella handed to Ron had a misspelled word in it,

"Honestly, Marcella," Kim said, taking the letter from Ron, and correcting the typo, "it's spelled like this."

Kim tossed the letter back to Ron, who's face began to resemble a tomato as he reread the letter again, ever so slowly, Ron shook his head, and began beating his forehead against his textbook,

"Ow, why me . . . ow, why me . . . **_OW_**, why me?" he asked no one, as he slammed his textbook against his head, over, and over again.

By this time, it was all Brick could do to keep from laughing his head off, while the rest of the class sat in mute silence at Ron's antics.

The third class of the day was History, he was well aware that Kim was in that class with him, they had shared all of their classes since junior year, but when he walked into the room, he saw the rest of his entourage sitting around an empty seat near the middle of the room,

'_Why do I feel like a condemned man on his way to the Gas Chamber?_' Ron thought to himself.

He quietly sat down at the desk, to his right, sat Zita, to his left, Yori, both were wearing wide, devilish grins,

"I hope you two know the assignment." Ron said, looking from one, to the other,

"Actually, I was thinking the origins of The Lambada." Zita said simply,

"I thought it was Japan." Yori commented, the smile still in place,

"Yeah, but the Lambada, Yori, it's been called '_The dance of love_' for years." Zita replied, still wearing that smile on her face,

"Uh . . . ladies . . . I thought the lesson was on Spain and Spanish History?" Ron mentioned,

"Yeah . . . well, The Lambada is rooted in Spanish History, Mas . . . Ron." Zita said, still smiling that impish smile,

"I always thought the Japanese Geisha House was the symbol of love, Zita-san." Yori said, her smile becoming wider,

'_Perfect . . . just what I needed, to have the ladies with their minds in the gutter_.' Ron thought, now nervously darting his eyes from one, to the other.

By the time the fourth class of the day rolled around, Ron thought to himself,

'_Gym class, I can finally be free of them for a while._'

This was not the case. As he walked into the gym for class, he saw all of the girls that lived with him all dressed out for class, and all were smiling at him as though they had just found something they lost,

"It's about time you got here." Bonnie said, sauntering up to him, and sliding her hands around his neck, she quickly locked lips with his in a kiss that seemed to rock the entire gym in seconds,

"Yeah . . . running a little late, must not do that again." Ron said, in a far away voice,

"Better hope Kim didn't see that." came the voice of Alan Platt from nearby,

"Oh, really." came Kim's voice from his right side, and seconds later, he suddenly found himself sharing a kiss with Kim that rocked the gym even more,

"Do you realize that he just kissed Bonnie?" came a voice from nearby, Courtney Lupe had suddenly found her way next to Ron,

"Yeah, and your point is?" Kim asked, turning to look at the person,

"I thought you hated Bonnie?" Courtney replied,

"Well, maybe once upon a time, but that's in the past." Kim replied with a shrug,

"Besides, what's so wrong with what we just did?" Bonnie asked, still looking somewhat wistful, until a familiar female voice caught their ears,

"Eyes wide, people." everyone turned to see Shego, standing in front of them wearing what could only be described as workout clothes:

She was dressed in tight green short pants that clung to her legs, showing off the womanly curves of her body, a tight black gym shirt was stretched across her ample chest, although the shirt didn't cover her bare midriff, and she had a pair of white sneakers on her feet, around her neck, dangled a whistle,

"New gym teacher, and she's a total fox." came the voice of Mitch Tucker, a member of the football team that seemed to have eyes for every good looking girl in the school, his bubble burst rather quickly, when Shego snaked up to Ron, with a slight seductive smile on her face,

"Now Mas . . . Stoppable, my primary concern is your health, and that's going to be a focus of mine where you're concerned." she said in a low voice, so that only Ron could hear. This was enough to make the hairs on the back of Ron's neck stand on end,

"Shego, you're a teacher, you're not supposed to blatantly show favorites." Ron said, in a low voice, that nevertheless, seemed to carry throughout the dead quietness that sprang up,

"True, but I kinda have a problem with the rules, as you well know." Shego said, smiling,

"Yeah, I'm aware of that." Ron said, shaking his head, he now knew that Barkin had set him up, big time.

Once again, Brick was watching the scene unfold, a huge smile had come over his face, and he was sniggering loudly at the antics that were taking place on the gym floor.

'_Only Barkin could be so cruel to a single out person like this, he's got to have a hand in it._' Brick thought to himself, as he was now beginning to outright laugh at what was transpiring below him.

As the class finished, and everyone headed for the locker room, Ron felt a hand grab onto his shoulder, he turned to see Shego, her hand laid delicately on his upper arm,

"Okay, Mas . . . Mister Stoppable . . . time for you to **_EARN_** your A in gym class . . . first test . . . endurance." Shego said, in a smoky voice,

"Oh, no, not here, not now, please." Ron said, looking at Shego, who was wearing an impish grin on her face.

"Too late, we decided." came Bonnie's voice from behind him, he turned to see the rest of the girls standing behind him, all of them nodding their heads at Bonnie's last comment.

Before he knew what was going on, he felt several pairs of hands suddenly seize him, and begin dragging him to the bleachers,

'_Oh, boy . . . I am _**_SOO_**_ dead._' Ron thought, as he looked up at the ceiling, and rolled his eyes, before a pair of greenish tinted hands came out from behind the bleachers, and pulled him to his fate,

'_Barkin . . . I'm definitely gonna get you for this!_' Ron shouted in his brain,

"Have mercy . . . **_PLEASE!_**" Ron shouted, as he began to protest,

"I'm right here, mas . . . Ron." came Marcella's melodic voice in his right ear,

"Help." Ron said, in a high-pitched voice.

Meanwhile, in the press box in the gym, Steve Barkin was looking down over the proceedings, and laughing so hard that his face was turning red, he never heard the door open, or saw Brick Flagg stroll in,

"I thought you'd be the source behind Ron's torment." Brick said, with mirth in his voice,

"Oh, yeah, I'm just waiting to see what happens during lunch, Stoppable, at the same table, with all twelve of them, that's gonna be a riot." Barkin said, laughing harder than ever now, as tears of mirth began streaming from his eyes,

"I gotta see that." Brick said, now joining in on the laugh at Ron's expense.

Lunchtime at Middleton High School was usually a noisy affair, but today, most of the eyes in the room were focused on the thirteen people sitting at a table in the back of the cafeteria, one of these people was Ron Stoppable, his face nearly obscured, but his trademark messy blonde hair sticking out above the tight knot of girls around him, all of them seemed to be jockeying spoons near his mouth, trying to feed him the lunch that was sitting in front of him,

"Ladies, please . . . you're gonna end up force choking me here." Ron said in a joking manner. That seemed to do it for a couple of people present in the cafeteria at that moment, they walked up to the table, about halfway there, they were stopped by Brick Flagg,

"Mitch . . . Dave . . . what do you two plan on doing?" Brick asked, looking at two of his fellow football players,

"We're gonna teach that loser Stoppable a lesson." Mitch Tucker said, his voice in a menacing growl,

"Yeah." echoed Dave Franklin, a starting linebacker for the team,

"Wouldn't recommend it, unless you want to spend some time in Middleton Memorial." Brick commented,

"I don't believe this, you'd stick up for that loser Stoppable? He's obviously overstepped his bounds this time, and needs to be knocked down a few pegs, so he'll learn his place." Mitch declared,

"You two just need to go back to your table, and back off, before you get seriously hurt!" Brick commented,

"You sticking up for him, Brick?" Dave asked, now staring at Brick like he was a new kid at school,

"I can't believe what I'm hearing, you'd go against your own like that, Brick? Are you saying that you would put one of us in the hospital, just for pounding that geek?" Mitch asked in disbelief,

"I won't, but he might . . . like maybe, a broken jaw, or even a broken arm, or some ribs." Brick commented, rattling off certain body parts that might end up with broken bones in them,

"Stoppable, put **_US _**in the hospital? Give us a break!" Mitch snorted in disbelief,

"You overestimate him, Brick." Mitch said,

"No, I don't," Brick replied, "you **_underestimate _**him."

"Yeah, we'll see." Mitch said, now even with the table that Ron and the girls were sitting at.

Brick just shook his head, he **_DID_** try to warn them. He could only hope that Ron would find in his heart to take it easy on the two jocks, as he sat back down to watch the fireworks,

"Stoppable . . . we want a word with you." Dave said, now standing to his full, and considerable height,

"Pete, and repeat, the Doppleganger twins, this is a surprise." Ron said, now standing up, to reveal his new look body to the two football players,

"Not gonna be so smart with you're jaw wired shut, are you, loser?" Mitch commented, making Ron walk around the table to face them, at the same time, the girls all slowly began to move from their seats, they quickly found them again when Ron turned, and nodded to them,

"And you're gonna **_try_** it, I suppose?" Ron asked, his eyes now fixed on Mitch, unblinking,

"And if I do?" Mitch asked,

"Doubt you'll do, you'll **_try_**, doubt you'll get very far, though." Ron said, in a calm voice, as though they were discussing the matter over a drink,

"I'll get further than you think." Mitch said, now stepping back, and taking a swing at Ron, who didn't even flinch, when he caught the bigger man's hand in his own, and began squeezing it, as though he were squeezing an orange to get juice out of it.

The cracking of bones filled the cafeteria as Ron's grip on the bigger man's hand tightened,

"You give . . . say '_Uncle._'" Ron said, his sense of humor heightening at the thought that he had the defensive captain of the football team at his mercy,

"Uncle . . . Uncle . . . **_UNCLE!_**" Mitch screamed at the top of his lungs, his hand now turning a bright reddish purple in Ron's vise-like grip,

"You sure?" Ron asked, still humored at Mitch's feeble attempt at trying a surprise attack on him,

"Yes . . . please, let go!" Mitch bawled.

Ron finally relented, when he felt Kim's hand touch his shoulder,

"Be glad I'm in a good mood, Mitch, otherwise, I would've popped your hand right off your arm." Ron said, with a scowl that would've scared Satan himself,

"That's going to cost you, Stoppable." Dave snarled, now swinging at Ron, who easily ducked, then, grabbing onto the waistline of the bigger man's pants, and his shirt collar, Ron hefted the other young man into the air over his head, and tossed him down the hall like a rag doll, without even breaking out a sweat,

"Want some more of this?" Ron asked, now looking from Mitch, who was nursing a clearly broken wrist, to Dave, who was laying, face down, in the hall, about ten feet away,

"Oh, by the way, Mitch, next time you try to Pearl Harbor me, have the common decency to make it **_look _**like something." Ron said, now turning, and resuming his seat at the table,

"I tried to warn you, Mitch." Brick said, shaking his head as he walked away.

* * *

_Later that afternoon:_

The rest of the day went uneventfully enough, and the school day was over, as Ron, and Brick went out to the parking lot to get the vans, the girls waited in the cafeteria for them, wondering what would be in store for them tomorrow, when Bonnie looked over her shoulder, and a sudden scowl came over her face,

"Oh, great, just what I **_didn't _**need." she said, now locking her eyes onto a young man that seemed to have picked her out of the crowd,

"What is it?" Tara asked, now turning around, "Like I should've asked, Dan Taylor."

"Who's that?" Marcella asked,

"One of Bonnie's ex-boyfriends." Tara replied, as Bonnie was becoming too angered to talk at that time,

"I take it, from the look on Bonnie's face, they didn't exactly split on good terms." Hope commented,

"Hardly." Bonnie managed to say, through tightly clenched teeth,

"They broke up because Dan was caught cheating on her . . . by none other than one Ron Stoppable." Tara said, smiling,

"**_Our_** Ron?" Kim asked, looking at Tara with interest,

"The very same . . . seems that Dan has an appetite for women that's bigger than his trophy case at home." Tara explained,

"Let me guess, he's captain of a sports team?" Monique asked, rolling her eyes,

"Wrestling . . . team captain, and three time state champion in the heavyweight division." Marcella chimed in, a frown on her face,

"Hey, Bonnie-babe, got time for an old flame?" Dan asked, now walking up to Bonnie, clearly wanting to try to rekindle a dead subject,

"What do you want, Dan?" Bonnie asked, the ice in her voice was enough to instantly flash freeze anything within five feet of her, but Dan seemed to have not picked up the hint,

"What's up with you and Stoppable, since when did you start hanging out with losers?" Dan asked,

"Ron Stoppable is hardly a loser, and as for what's between me, and him, that's **_my_** business, not yours." Bonnie said, every syllable drenched in venom,

"Whatever's clever, what do you say to just one fling, I'm sure that Stoppable won't know it." Dan said, now laying his hand onto Bonnie's right wrist,

"Do you like that hand?" Bonnie asked,

"Yeah." Dan replied,

"Would you like it to remain attached to your body?" Bonnie asked,

"Yeah." Dan replied,

"Then remove it from my arm, or you're gonna pull back a bloody stump." Bonnie spat out, clearly incensed, and angered that he would lay his hands on her,

"I doubt that'll happen, you see, Stoppable isn't here to protect you." Dan replied, leering at Bonnie,

"Who says I need him to protect me?" Bonnie asked, now harshly grabbing onto Dan's arm, and bending his hand backwards, causing the man to fall to his knees, her eyes were starting to get a familiar reddish tint to them, her anger was beginning to override her senses, if she didn't reign it in soon, she would succumb to a vampiric rage,

"Bonnie . . . get a grip." Tara said, now looking at Bonnie, who's fangs began to grow, and were barely showing under her top lip,

"I think I got a good one, Tara, thank you very much." Bonnie said, still gripping tightly onto Dan's flailing wrist,

"Not good enough, though." Dan said suddenly, tossing Bonnie off his arm as though she were nothing more than an annoying fly.

Bonnie hit a nearby door harshly, and disappeared on the other side of it, suddenly, the other girls stiffened, and looked at the captain of the wrestling team, all of them noticing the telltale bite marks at the base of the neck,

"Oh, God . . . he's been turned." Marcella said, now completely showing all of her vampiric power, as she rooted herself to the spot where she stood, bracing for an attack,

"This is not good." Hope commented, releasing all of her power at the same time as Marcella, and staring at her opponent, the others soon followed suit.

Yori had just walked into the cafeteria, a few minutes late, when she saw Bonnie disappear through a door on the far side from where she stood,

"What in the name of Mt. Fuji is happening?" she asked, looking over at Kim, who was sporting blood red eyes, and a pair of three inch long fangs,

"Looks like fang face has an inside man at the school, Yori, and we just found him." Kim replied, now charging at what could only be described as a vampire, only to get slammed hard into the wall behind her.

Ron and Brick were on their way back into the cafeteria, when they saw it clear out quickly, almost every student that had occupied it earlier had cleaned it out in near record time, the ones made conspicuous only by their absence in the crowd, were Kim, and the girls, none of whom had run out of the building

"What's going on?" Brick asked, looking back at Ron, who suddenly stiffened up, his eyes flashing blue,

"Looks like we got an unwanted visitor." Ron said, now running full pelt to the doors, and kicking them open.

The heavy steel and glass doors flew off their hinges, to reveal Ron standing just on the other side of the threshold, his eyes were a bluish white color, with no visible pupils, his hair was whipping around, as though caught in a high wind, even though not a breeze was blowing outside, and his face was set in a scowl that could've easily scared the strongest man in the world,

"**_PLAYTIME'S OVER!_**" Ron bellowed, in a voice so low, that it seemed to rattle the windows, and even shook the floors,

"Dude, you are **_soo_** over." Bonnie said, now reappearing from the door behind which she had disappeared only seconds before, with mystery meat gravy clinging to her hair, she had seen Ron standing in front of the now wrecked entrance to the cafeteria,

"The loser, beat me . . . I'll believe that when I see it." Dan said, now tossing Tara aside, and stalking Ron like a lion, moving in for the kill,

"You're call, dude, make it count . . . 'cause you won't get a second chance." Ron said calmly, as though he were merely ordering another quecerito Naco platter at Bueno Nacho.

Within seconds after opening his mouth, Ron was knocked off his feet, and thrown across the room by a huge hand that seemed to spring from out of nowhere,

"Now **_THAT_** was a real surprise." Ron said, rubbing his right side, which was now sporting a huge bruise from his shoulder, to his waist, it appeared as though he had broken some ribs in that exchange, as he got up, favoring his right arm,

"You alright, Ron-man?" Brick asked, now edging closer to Ron, and kneeling in front of him,

"No, I think I might've busted some ribs." Ron said, now hacking up a small bit of blood into his hands,

"Oh, great . . . this is just freaking prime." Brick said, now reaching into his oversized backpack, which he took with him to every class, he pulled out a long wooden box, and drew from it, a beautifully carved, ivory handled Katana, the end of the handle was carved into a dragon head, the insets at the eyes appeared to be real rubies, about the size of a dime, the blade looked as though the owner took good care of it over the years, the round, Samurai style pommel was inlaid with gold in certain areas, giving the sword a definite one-of-a-kind appearance,

"Let's see what you got, fang face ." Brick said, dropping into a Kendo stance similar to what Kim had seen Ron use against Drakken,

"You're on ." Dan shouted, now charging full pelt toward Brick, who suddenly got a smirk on his face,

"You've already lost." Brick said, in an uncanny impersonation of Ron from a couple of weeks prior.

Brick jumped into the air, and in a graceful bit of gymnastics that seemed so uncharacteristic of him, he landed with his back turned on the inhuman monstrosity, and thrust his sword deep through its back, right about where the heart should be.

Dan screamed in agony, as Brick turned the blade of his sword in his hands, causing more damage, he then pulled the sword out, causing Dan to fall to his knees,

"**_ARRIVEDERCI, BABY!_**" Brick said, taking a huge swipe at Dan's neck, lopping his head off cleanly,

"Nice shot, Brick." Bonnie said, as she watched Dan's body explode into ash, and blow away,

"I've kept in practice." Brick said with a large smile,

"We got a problem over here." Tara interjected, standing beside Ron, with an uncharacteristic frown on her face,

"What's up?" Bonnie asked, looking at Ron, and turning her attention to Tara,

"Oh, man . . . what isn't," Tara replied, when no one asked her to explain, she continued, "a ton of broken ribs, and massive internal injuries."

"What about his healing powers?" Kim asked,

"It's gonna take him at least three days, to a week to heal from this, Kim," Tara replied, "his powers are keeping the injuries from getting worse, but I have no idea how much longer he can hold out, he needs medical help, now, and not the kind the school nurse can give him."

"That bad ?" Hope asked,

"Yeah, that bad." Tara replied,

"Any way to help him out?" Crystal asked,

"If we were back at the mansion, and I had the medbay handy, I'd say yeah, but we're a good twenty miles away for that." Tara replied,

"What about your medkit?" Marcella asked,

"Didn't bring it with me . . . I didn't think I'd need it." Tara said, now hanging her head,

"Look, someone port him to the mansion, and the rest can ride back in the vans, Shego is already outside in one of them, I can drive the other." Brick said, finally bringing some order to the crowd,

"Right," Tara said, now helping Ron to his feet, and draping his left arm around her neck, "I'm the medical expert here, I'll take him back to the mansion, and get this party started."

Tara quickly hefted Ron up to his feet, taking extreme care not to grip too tight against his already badly injured right side, and ported out of sight, while the others filed out of the cafeteria, and into the waiting vans.

* * *

_Later, at the mansion:_

The vans pulled into the driveway, and parked outside of the garage, the occupants unloading from it quickly, all of them filing into the house as though it were raining outside, as soon as they were inside, Kim assaulted Wade with several questions.

"Hold up, one question at a time, please." Wade said, nearly at the brink of pulling his hair out by the roots,

"How's master doing ?" Crystal asked,

"He's stable at the moment, Tara is still downstairs working on him." Wade replied,

"Can we see him ?" Kim asked,

"No . . . Tara put strict orders that no visitors are to be allowed in the medbay until she's finished." Wade answered, causing all of the girls' faces to fall,

"Can we at least go down there, and wait ?" Kim asked,

"Yes, but don't go inside, Tara is still working on him." Wade responded, and with that, all of the girls made a mad dash for the elevator in the foyer,

"Boy, they're really concerned about him." Brick said, watching the last girl, Shego, disappear around the corner,

"They have a right to be, without Ron, their lives are pretty much meaningless." Wade commented,


	11. Chapter 11:  Healing, and Helping

**Chapter 11**

**Healing, and Helping**

_**Kick a Little . . .**_

_By_

_**Little Texas**_

_My daddy always was a gentleman,_

_Never the kind to ever force his hand,_

_He would always be the last one to raise his voice,_

_If anybody ever put us down,_

_Well, You can bet that he would stand his ground,_

_He would tell me,_

_Son, sometimes, you got no choice,_

_You got to kick a little, and cause a stir,_

_Sometimes you gotta make some noise to be heard,_

_If anybody ever tries to hold you back,_

_Yeah, you got to kick a little, and be tough,_

_You got to let 'em know you've had enough,_

_Remember that unless you wanna finish last,_

_You got to kick a little,_

_Some people judge you by the way you look,_

_They see you once, and say you ain't no good,_

_Seems like they're never gonna take you for who you are,_

_That's when you have to stand up, and be strong,_

_And go the extra mile to prove 'em all wrong,_

_Just remember when they push you way too far,_

_You got to kick a little, and cause a stir,_

_Sometimes you gotta make some noise to be heard,_

_If anybody ever tries to hold you back,_

_Yeah, you got to kick a little, and be tough,_

_You gotta let 'em know you've had enough,_

_Remember that unless you wanna finish last,_

_You got to kick a little._

Two days had passed since Ron's injuries put him on the shelf, and still, his condition had yet to change,

"I don't get it, I did everything I could, but still, nothing's changed." Tara said, after the second day had passed,

"No one blames you, Tara, you did everything you could do, it's Ron." Wade replied, now looking at the girls,

"What do you mean by that, Wade?" Shego asked, staring hard into Wade's eyes,

"It took a ton of power, and strength for him to keep those injuries from getting worse, that's what caused him to slip under like that." Wade stated,

"Power drain?" Jessica asked,

"A little bit worse than that, Jessica," Brick said, causing all eyes in the room to swivel onto him, "power burnout . . . he had to hold his power for so long, it took a lot of strength from him, and now, his body needs time to recover from it."

"What I don't get out of the whole thing is how did Dan do so much damage to him?" Bonnie asked,

"Yeah . . . that is kind of weird," Hope said, "I mean, he was able to defeat one of the worst dark creatures known to mankind, but yet he was almost killed by an underling . . . something seems amiss here."

"That's one that can be easily explained too," Wade commented, again, getting the attention of the room, "he was caught off guard."

"You mean that the sucker punch that Dan laid on him really **_was_** a sucker punch?" Tara asked,

"Yeah, Ron wasn't ready for Dan to attack from the side, he was thinking that he was going to come straight at him, he was proven wrong, and this time, it cost him." Brick commented,

"Not like our master to be wrong that often, but when he is, it can be very devastating, as you've all seen." Kim supplied, having known Ron longer than the others had its advantages, but it also meant that she was well aware of his weaknesses,

"Kim's right . . . Ron's rarely wrong, but when he is, he's wrong, big time." Brick stated, looking at Ron's still form on the bed next to them all,

"Well, eleven o'clock, I'm turning in for the night." Wade said, stretching, and turning for the door,

"Tara, you turning in?" Jessica asked, looking at Tara, who was looking over the monitors that Ron was hooked up to,

"No, I need to stay put, just in case he comes around during the night." Tara explained,

"Then we'll all stay." Crystal replied,

"That's generous, Crystal, but I would prefer that only one at a time stay during the night, I need the room to take care of the monitors, and change his IV's when they run out." Tara stated,

"Why don't the rest of you go ahead, I'll help Tara out." Hope stated, looking at the rest of the group, who all nodded, and filed out of the medbay,

"Thanks, Hope, I just might need the help." Tara explained, as the doors closed behind the last person to leave,

"Anytime, Tara." Hope replied, a smile on her face,

"They really got him good this time." Tara said, now walking over to the right side of Ron's bed, and leaning over him,

"What are you doing?" Hope asked, noticing that Tara was messing with a line that lead from a small opening on his right side,

"Well, I had to get some help for this one, he needed a procedure that I couldn't do." Tara explained,

"What kind of procedure?" Hope asked,

"Well, he had something in the neighborhood of five broken ribs, and mystic powers, or not, you don't walk away from something like that without either a punctured, or collapsed lung." Tara explained,

"Which one was it?" Hope asked, hoping for a mere puncture,

"Collapsed lung, it needed to be reinflated, and I didn't know how to do it." Tara said,

"Let me guess. You needed a specialist to help you out." Hope supplied,

"Yeah, thank God that Wade put a direct line to Middleton Memorial in here." Tara said, pointing to a large monitor near the center of the room,

"But what's that bag got to do with it?" Hope asked,

"It's an irrigation bag, I needed to get the accumulated blood out of his lung, and this was the only way to do it, without opening him up." Tara explained,

"If that couldn't be done?" Hope asked,

"Not too sure of the outcome here, but a normal human would drown in their own blood if that isn't done." Tara explained.

* * *

_The following morning:_

Tara had been skipping her sleep since she had brought Ron into the medbay to work on him, and she was now beginning to show it, her usually bright, sparkling blue eyes looked dull, and spent, her hair, which was normally kept in a beautiful wave hung lank around her face, and she was sporting matching luggage under her eyes.

This is how she was when Kim found her asleep at her desk in the medbay,

"Tara, come on, wake up." Kim said, nudging the pretty blonde gently,

"Huh . . . oh, hi, Kim, did I fall asleep?" Tara asked blearily, staring around the medbay, the scene, and the fact that there were a couple of paper clips clinging to Tara's face would've been somewhat comical, if the situation weren't so serious,

"Yeah, how long have you been out?" Kim asked,

"I only remember Hope leaving the medbay, and that's it." Tara replied, looking at Kim as though she weren't there, and finally brushing the paper clips from her cheeks,

"That was ten hours ago." Kim said, now noticing the bags under Tara's eyes,

"Wow. I've been out for the last ten hours." Tara said, now unbelieving at what was being said,

"Apparently . . . why don't you go upstairs, and try to get some decent sleep, Tara." Kim said, looking at Tara with concerned eyes,

"I can't, Kim, if master wakes up, I need to be right here, there could be some things I might've missed." Tara explained,

"I'll stay here with him, Tara." Kim replied,

"I can't, Kim, I would not be fulfilling my duties to the group, I've got to stay here." Tara explained,

"I'll stay down here with you, then." Kim replied, now taking a seat next to Ron's bed, she looked at him carefully, and examined his right side,

"Well, the bruising's gone, that's a good sign." Kim stated, looking at Tara, who suddenly got a puzzled expression on her face,

"It is, it was still there when Hope left last night." Tara replied, now coming over to take a look.

Sure enough, the bruising on the right side of Ron's body was gone, and slowly, overnight, the ribs that were so badly broken, had healed,

"I need to run an internal check on him." Tara said quickly, reaching for a monitor, she quickly began to look intently,

"Give me a hand, Kim, quick!" Tara said, excitedly, leaning over Ron's right side, and grabbing the irrigation tube, she slowly removed it, and watched as the incision healed itself,

"He's coming around." Tara commented, smiling.

Sure enough, ever so slowly, a loud groan of pain escaped Ron's mouth, his eyes fluttered open, and his left hand went up to his forehead,

"Someone wanna tell the little butthead in my skull to turn off his jackhammer." he said dryly,

"Master, we were so worried about you." Kim said, quickly flinging her arms around Ron's waist, this made Ron wince slightly,

"Ow, my ribs, Kim . . . let up." Ron managed to say through winces, and groans,

"Oh, sorry." Kim replied, now releasing her death grip on Ron, who was now attempting to sit up,

"Back down you go." Tara said, now pushing Ron back into a laying position,

"Tara, I'm fine." Ron stated,

"I'll be the judge of that, now lay down." Tara replied, now turning her back on Ron to look at the monitors he was still hooked up to,

"Typical." Ron mumbled,

"What was that?" Tara asked, still not looking at Ron,

"I said thank you." Ron replied, attempting to cover up,

"Uh-huh, now, hold still." Tara replied, walking up to Ron with a syringe in her hand, she jabbed Ron in the arm with the syringe rather roughly,

"**_OW! TARA!_**" Ron screamed, as Tara turned the syringe slightly in his arm, she quickly injected the clear liquid into his body, smiling,

"I'm not that typical, am I?" she commented, a wicked smirk on her face,

"That hurt." Ron said, now massaging his arm where Tara had inserted the needle,

"Maybe you'll learn not to speak like that to someone with a needle in their hands." Tara replied,

"Okay, Tara, I get the hint . . . I'm sorry." Ron responded,

"Yeah, you are now, aren't you?" Tara said, knowing that she had a measure of satisfaction from the exchange,

"I guess I deserved that." Ron commented, now sitting up,

"I didn't say you could leave yet." Tara stated, watching Ron reach for a shirt,

"Tara, look . . . me . . . fine." Ron stated,

"In the mansion, and on the battlefield, you give the orders, down here in the medbay, **_I_** give the orders, and at the moment, you're **_MY_** patient, and I am **_ORDERING_** you to lay back down, I'm not finished with the tests yet." Tara replied,

"Yes, Dr. King." Ron stated, snapping off a military salute, before laying back down on the bed,

"That's more like it." Tara replied, smiling,

"What's the verdict, Tara?" Kim asked, as she watched Tara finish the last battery of tests,

"Well, all vitals are stable, his blood cell count is back to normal, or what would be considered normal for him, I guess he can go, but try to keep the strenuous activity down to a minimum for the rest of the day . . . you could overdo it otherwise." Tara commented, now removing the white lab coat she was wearing, and finally leaving the medbay,

"It's about time she left, and got some sleep." Kim commented, as she watched Tara walk out of the room, the doors closing as she cleared the threshold,

"What do you mean?" Ron asked,

"She's refused to leave since she got you back here." Kim stated,

"How long has it been?" Ron asked,

"Three days, you took a real beating." Kim stated,

"How bad?" Ron replied,

"Something like five broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and some massive internal bleeding, she worked on you for most of that first night, just to get you stabilized." Kim responded,

"And she's been down here ever since?" Ron asked,

"Oh, yeah, she even refused to leave the medbay after she had you stabilized, she kept fearing that there was something she overlooked, even though she covered everything more than once." Kim stated,

"I'm just glad she's on our side." Ron commented,

"Me too, we really need someone with her knowledge of medicine, it's a definite plus." Kim stated, to Ron's nods.

* * *

_A week later:_

It had been a week since Ron had awakened, and oddly enough, things had been real quiet on the vampire front,

"I don't like it. He should've made some kind of move by now." Bonnie stated when this subject was breeched,

"Yeah, but so far, we still have the advantage, Bonnie." Marcella explained, looking at the tanned beauty,

"That might be true, Marcella, but none of us are on the same level as Dracula in the combat department." Monique replied,

"I gotta agree with Monique on this one, with the exceptions of Yori, Shego, Kim, and master, none of us have any real knowledge of how to fight." Crystal stated,

"We did pretty good against Fukushima and his bunch." Zita commented,

"That's because we were feeding off each other's thoughts, that's not always going to be a factor in a fight, so, we need something else." Jessica commented, at that same moment, Ron walked into the living room, and sat down, he looked around at all of the faces, and began to sense that something was out of place,

"What's on your mind, ladies?" Ron asked, looking at the girls with interest,

"Well, we were thinking, if we're going to be a team, we need to learn to fight like a team." Bonnie commented,

"Are you talking martial arts, Bonnie?" Ron asked,

"Well . . . yeah." Bonnie replied, smiling kind of sheepishly,

"And the rest of you?" Ron asked, looking at all of the girls in turn, who nodded as his eyes met theirs,

"You do realize what you're asking, don't you?" Ron commented, to the nods of all girls present,

"Okay, I'll teach you, but don't expect it to be easy." Ron stated,

"We don't expect you to go easy on us, master, this is your area of expertise, after all." Zita stated,

"Oh, I'm not going to just play rough with you, Zita, I'm going to play hardball like you've never seen before." Ron stated,

"How's that?" Crystal asked,

"I'm going to drive you into the ground, I'll ride you all until you can't stand up, but when you do stand up, you'll be ready for anything anyone wants to throw at you." Ron stated,

"We're ready, master." Hope commented,

"Are you really, Hope?" Ron asked, looking at the girls, who suddenly felt cold shivers run down their spines, they all knew that look, and they knew that they were going to be in for a very long time of it, and that there was going to be a ton of punishment, dished out at the hands of one Ron Stoppable.

* * *

_Later that evening, in the training room:_

"_Oof!_" Kim let out a groan of pain, as her back hit the padded floor for what seemed like the millionth time that night. Once again, Ron had come in under her guard, and was able to flip her onto her back, merely by using his legs,

"Once again, you've let your emotions override your thoughts, Kim, you need to center your thoughts, and emotions into one place, and guide them, you're doing just the opposite." Ron stated, as he extended his hand.

He wasn't in his usual clothing, instead, he was wearing a pair of black karate pants, and a black ghi, with red trim, signifying that he held the title of master Sensei in at least one discipline.

"Are you trying to say that my emotions are guiding my actions, and that I don't have complete control of my thoughts?" Kim asked, looking at Ron,

"That's exactly what I'm saying, KP." Ron stated, helping Kim to her feet,

"So, how do I get this "_center_," as you call it?" Kim asked,

"Meditation works wonders." Ron stated calmly,

"Meditation." Hope repeated,

"Yes . . . meditation, allowing your body, and mind to become one within themselves . . . it's a very easy process, and one that is greatly underused." Ron stated, now sitting Louts style in the center of the room, everyone quickly looked around, and noticed Brick and Yori had followed suit,

"What's going on?" Kim whispered to the person now sitting next to her, Shego,

"No clue." Shego replied, watching Ron in awe, as a bluish-white light erupted around him, he suddenly began floating three feet from the floor, they also saw Yori following suit, hovering at about the same distance, Brick was also hovering off the floor, but not as high,

"Meditation **_does_** work wonders, doesn't it?" Bonnie stated.

All eyes were on Ron, as they watched his eyes open, they were glowing a bright bluish-white, and there were no visible pupils, they also noticed the punching bag that was hanging from the ceiling beside of him.

Without warning, Ron struck, pulling The Lotus Blade quickly, and cutting the punching bag cleanly in two,

"Whoa, he did that in less than a couple of seconds!" Hope stated, completely awestruck at the speed with which Ron struck.

Brick soon followed suit, pulling from his back, the same ornately carved kitana he had used to kill Dan with,

"Not as fast as you, Ron-man, but I'm getting there." he commented, now sheathing the sword,

"You're full of it, Brick, keep it up, and the student will soon outstrip the teacher." Ron replied,

"Why thank you . . . _Sensei_." Brick stated, to the slack jaws of the girls present,

"Brick is one of my best Kendo students. I've been teaching him for the last three years." Ron stated,

"And you never told me?" Kim replied,

"Kim, I've been practicing in the old dojo not too far from your house." Ron stated,

"Besides, Kim, I asked for private lessons, I didn't think that Ron would actually take me up on the offer." Brick stated.

It was at this time, that Yori finally opened her eyes, and sliced through the punching bag to her right with a pair of steel fans in her hands,

"Nice move, Yori." Ron stated, smiling,

"Thank you, _tono_." Yori replied, bowing deeply,

"Brick, do me a favor, and hand out the Bokkens." Ron stated, nodding to a large wooden barrel with what appeared to be several wooden practice swords inside of it,

"Question, Master." Kim commented, looking at Ron with interest,

"What's up, Kim?" Ron asked,

"I couldn't help but notice that you're wearing a master's ghi, how many forms do you know?" Kim asked, this peaked the interest of the rest of the girls, except Yori, while Brick merely shook his head,

"I'm a rated master in 25 different forms of martial arts, and I'm a certified Sensei in fifteen of them." Ron stated, without even blinking,

"Unbelievable." Kim said in a low voice, while the rest of the girls looked at Ron, awestruck,

"Now, Kendo training is not easy, which is why I want to get that out of the way first, then, we'll move on to the good stuff." Ron stated,

"If we're practicing sword training, shouldn't we do it with real swords?" Shego asked,

"Not yet, Shego, not until I'm sure you can handle these first, then, we'll move on to the real deal." Ron stated,

"First thing's first, just how good are you?" Marcella asked,

"Marcella, that's kind of rude," Hope said, "he already said that he mastered twenty five different forms of martial arts."

"Actually, she's got a good point, Hope." Ron stated, he then turned his attention to Brick, "Brick, should we give the ladies a demonstration?"

"Sounds like fun." Brick replied, now drawing two Bokkens from the barrel next to him, he walked up to Ron, and tossed one of the wooden practice swords to him, then, the two men bowed to one another, and took up a fighting stance,

"**_BEGIN!_**" Ron shouted, now taking the initiative, and moving in for a shot against Brick, who parried nicely, and attempted a slicing move of his own. Ron dodged the move, making Brick miss completely, and with the agility of a cat, Ron struck, coming in under Brick's guard, and hitting him across the chest,

"You're dead, Brick." Ron commented,

"Thanks for the workout, _Sensei_, although I should've seen that one coming." Brick replied,

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Brick, you held your own nicely in that exchange." Ron said, smiling at his best student,

"Okay, I guess you are that good." Marcella commented,

"Well, there are better than me, but then again, some would call me modest." Ron stated,

"Master is one of the best Kendo masters there is." Yori responded, looking at the other girls,

"I wouldn't go that far, Yori, after all, Master Sensei is the one that taught me." Ron stated,

"But Master Sensei is not as good as you are." Yori stated,

"And Master Sensei is not a young man anymore either." Ron pointed out,

"True, but Master Sensei said so himself, that even when he was younger, he would never be able to beat you." Yori stated,

"And coming from him, that is definite flattery." Ron stated, smiling,

"What next?" Kim asked,

"First of all, I need you all to pick up the Bokkens that Brick handed out earlier." Ron stated, which the girls did quickly,

"Now," Ron continued, " I want you all to follow my movements, Brick, I'm gonna need your help on this, just go around the room, and correct the ones that are going the wrong way."

"Shouldn't have a whole lot of trouble with Yori." Brick stated rather lazily,

"Maybe not, but still, this is a bit of a larger crowd than what I'm used to working with." Ron stated,

"On it." Brick replied, now positioning himself in the back of the room,

"Alright, just follow my movements, and remember, this is not going to be easy . . . ready . . . **_BEGIN!_**"

Ron began a kata movement that seemed to just flow from one position to the next, most of the girls were finding it easy at first, keeping up with Ron, until he began to pick up the pace, slowly, one-by-one, the girls began to lose their footing, or the position, which brought Brick right up to them, helping them out, and showing them the proper position, by the time Ron stopped, an hour later, the girls all collapsed in a heap on the floor, almost completely exhausted,

"Let's take a ten minute break, and we'll pick up from there." Ron stated, once again sitting on the floor in a Lotus position, and closing his eyes,

"Why does he meditate so much?" Shego asked Brick, who was now beside of her,

"It helps him keep his center." Brick mentioned.

Ten minutes later, Ron opened his eyes, and looked out into the crowd,

"I'll need a volunteer," his eyes raked the crowd, and came to rest on Shego, "Shego, if you would be so kind as to join me up here?"

Shego nodded, and stood, she quietly, and quickly walked up to the front of the room, and to where Ron was standing,

"Okay, Shego, this should be a piece of cake for you." Ron stated, as she stood in front of him,

"Uh . . . okay." Shego stated,

"Don't worry. It's just a sparring session." Ron stated, smiling at Shego, who smiled back,

"Sounds like fun." Shego commented wryly.

"Ready . . . **_BEGIN!_**" Ron shouted.

Within seconds, Ron and Shego were locked into a beautiful, and somewhat deadly looking dance of punches, kicks, blocks, and back flips, when Shego tried to come in under Ron's guard, she quickly found herself on her back, Ron over top of her, his legs holding her arms fast to her sides,

"Trying to sneak in under your opponent's guard is a good idea, but not if they're ready for it." Ron stated, now standing up, and allowing Shego to get onto her feet again, the raven haired beauty seemed a little flustered, but she still had a kind of passionate look to her face, this quickly got Brick's attention,

'_Why does _**_EVERYTHING_**_ have to be almost like foreplay to these girls?_' he asked himself, noticing that for some reason, the act of simply sparring with Ron seemed to turn Shego on.

By the end of the session, Ron had noticed that the girls were sweating profusely, and panting rather heavily,

"I know this seems a little intense, but trust me, in six weeks, you'll thank me for it." Ron stated, allowing the girls to file out of the room, to a much needed shower, and some sleep,

"What about weapons training, Ron?" Brick asked, as the last girl, Tara, dragged herself over the threshold,

"We'll get to that later. I got Wade developing some weapons for each of the girls, from bo staves that can fold up, and pretty much go unnoticed, to laser whips, that can go from a light, to an intense setting, strong enough to punch a small hole into a cinder block wall, to laser blade swords that can slice through titanium. Once we get them trained in Kendo, and martial arts, we'll give them specific weapons training." Ron stated,

"And how will we know what weapons to train them in?" Brick asked,

"We'll let them decide that, Brickster." Ron stated, now leading his friend out of the training room.

* * *

_Six weeks later:_

With a month and a half since his last appearance, Dracula still hadn't tipped his hand, nor, had he recruited anymore of Middleton's citizens, for some reason, it's as though he had went completely quiet, almost like he was waiting for something.

Meanwhile, at the mansion complex Ron, and his ladies called home, things were going well, Ron had put the girls through his six week intensive training course, and they all seemed to take to it rather quickly, he was able to impart enough knowledge onto them that they would not only be able to hold their own in a fight, but they would actually be able to come out on top, and he had even trained them well in swordsmanship, each one had shown that they could wield a sword with little effort now, so, he felt that it was time for each of them to choose a speciality weapon, so that they could be able to be trained in it, and it's uses, the first, was Tara,

"Do you got a weapon in mind?" Ron asked the pretty blonde,

"Yeah, I was thinking Nunchucku." Tara replied,

"Single, or paired?" Ron asked,

"A pair." Tara replied,

"Alright, Brick is pretty well schooled in those, I'll have him teach you how to use them." Ron stated, smiling,

"Cool." Tara replied, bounding away, to make way for the next girl, Shego,

"Got one in mind?" Ron asked,

"Oh, yeah." Shego replied, and without warning, she formed from the plasma that her body was able to generate, a solid sword,

"Plasma sword, but doesn't that kind of take away some strength for the amount of time you keep it formed like that?" Ron asked,

"Yeah, a little." Shego said, her voice was already beginning to sound tired,

"I got a better idea, you already know how to use a katanna, why not have some people I know make you one that can channel the plasma that you can generate, that way, the act of having to make the sword won't sap all your strength." Ron stated,

"Sounds like a good idea, think Wade can pull it off?" Shego asked,

"Who said it was going to be Wade?" Ron asked, much to Shego's delight, who stepped away, for the next girl, Zita,

"Got a preference?" Ron asked,

"Well, it's not exactly what you would consider a normal martial arts weapon." Zita said, a sheepish grin coming over her face,

"What is it?" Ron asked, chuckling slightly, he had figured that Zita would be the one to steer away from the normal,

"I was thinking a bullwhip." Zita commented,

"How about a laser whip, Wade's working on one of those, and I think it might fit you." Ron stated,

"Cool, that sounds like it could rock." Zita said, bounding away with a huge grin on her face.

Once Ron had finished with each girl, he quickly looked over at Brick,

"Looks like each girl wanted something different." Ron stated,

"I noticed, but damn, Jessica . . . paired war axes, who is she looking to torture with those things?" Brick stated, his eyes growing wide,

"Not too sure, but she's definitely got some bad intentions on her mind with those bad boys." Ron stated,

"And Zita, wanting to play Indiana Jones, and use a bullwhip, she's got to be crazy." Brick stated,

"Yeah . . ._ La Nina Loca_." Ron stated,

"'_Crazy little girl_' just about fits her, did you hear what she did while you were out, Ron?" Brick stated,

"No." Ron replied, arching an eyebrow,

"She para jumped off the Devil's Gorge Bridge . . . wound up getting the cops called on her for it, too." Brick stated,

"Why?" Ron asked, chuckling,

"For the adrenaline rush." Brick stated simply,

"Leave it to Zita. She's been watching The X-Games too much again." Ron stated, shaking his head,

"I'll say." Brick replied, allowing the conversation to drop.

Of course, it wasn't all martial arts training for the girls, or anyone else in the mansion, for that matter, they still had a life outside of the high wrought iron fence of what had been dubbed _Ft. Knox_ by the girls.

For the girls present, it was cheerleading, and school studies for all, including Ron, for Barkin, he still had a school to run, and for Shego, it was her new job as the High School Gym teacher, for Monique, her extracurricular activities ended up being her job with Club Banana, and for Zita, it was creating, developing, and trying out extreme stunts that were getting more and more dangerous as time went by, Ron finally had to draw the line, when she wanted to para jump the Grand Canyon,

"If Evil Kenevil couldn't jump across it, I'm not going to let you para jump down it, that's asking for a pine box." he stated,

"Wrong place, master," Zita stated, "Evil Kenevil tried to jump the Snake River Canyon, not The Grand Canyon."

"The answer is still no, Zita." Ron replied, crossing his arms across his chest, effectively ending the conversation.

* * *

_Later that afternoon, in the training room:_

Ron had decided that depending on how well the girls had progressed, that this could be the last training session they had with him,

"If you all listened, and remembered what I showed you, you'll be ready to fight like you never have before, but first, I need a volunteer."

Ron's eyes raked the crowd in front of him, until they fell on Bonnie, who was attempting to hide herself behind Kim, and Hope,

"I see you hiding back there, Bonnie, come on up here." Ron said, not looking the direction of the tanned beauty, who seemed a little nervous to approach Ron,

"Relax, and breathe deeply, this is going to be a live practice, so, draw your sword." Ron stated, looking at Bonnie as he drew The Lotus Blade.

Bonnie followed suit, forming a blood katanna, and taking up a fighting stance in front of Ron,

"Alright, let's do this, ready?" Ron asked, looking at Bonnie, who nodded, "Alright . . .**_ BEGIN!_**"

Within seconds, Ron and Bonnie were locked into a hypnotizing dance that seemed as though both were fighting to get the upper hand on the other, everyone watched, as Bonnie was able to sneak under Ron's guard, and land a well timed side kick that staggered him,

"Not bad." Ron said, smiling, he then moved in, and began the practice anew, moving a little faster this time, Bonnie was able to keep up with his rapid fire movements, parrying his blows, and countering with spectacular moves of her own, until Ron finally stopped and held up his hand,

"Enough . . . it appears that you've kept up on your training." Ron said, now looking at Bonnie, a huge smile on his face,

"I had a good teacher." Bonnie replied, a similar smile on her face,

"Thanks, I'm flattered." Ron replied, allowing Bonnie to take her place with the rest of the girls,

"Any recommendations?" Kim asked, looking at Ron,

"I'd say, spar with each other at least twice a week, to keep your abilities sharp, other than that, not really." Ron stated, smiling, and allowing them to leave the room, each one of them feeling a sense of accomplishment at completing Ron's rigorous, and at times, very nerve racking intensive training course, each girl had also received weapons training in a particular field, or for a particular weapon, something that would give them an advantage, now sitting in the weapons locker, were areas for each of the girls, with their special made weapons of choice:

Underneath Kim's name were a pair of Kali Sticks that were made to fold up, and go unnoticed.

For Hope, a set of custom made paired Sai sat on the wall.

Monique was trained in the use of a bo staff, and was given one that could telescope into itself, and go unseen.

Jessica was trained in the use of smaller versions of the medieval Battle Axe, and was made a paired set of such weapons.

Zita was trained in the use of a bullwhip, and was given a laser whip for use in combat.

Marcella was given a pair of laser bladed swords, that could easily slice through titanium.

Tara was given a pair of Nunchucku, and trained in the use of them.

But perhaps the weirdest weapon in the locker at this moment, was the one that was to be used by Shego:

From all outward appearances, it appeared to be a katanna, but the blade was transparent, which allowed her to channel the plasma energy her body produced into it, making it a much more effective weapon.

"Well, at least the weaponry is finished, Ron-man." Brick commented, as the last girl walked out of the training room,

"Tell me about it, I thought the sword smiths at Yamanouchi were gonna pull their hair out by the roots when I told them what I wanted for Shego." Ron explained,

"Well, her's does have the virtue of being a one-of-a-kind." Brick stated,

"Yeah, it does, and since we have Wade right here on hand, we were able to build the more high tech toys." Ron stated,

"Yeah, from Zita's laser whip, to the special made gloves for Crystal." Brick stated,

"I thought Wade was going to pull his hair out on those gloves." Ron stated, thinking of the gloves that Wade designed for Crystal, which would be able to magnify her strength ten times when needed,

"Heh, you and me both, buddy." Brick stated, laughing, as he and Ron walked out of the training room together.

* * *

_That same evening, in the conference room on the third floor:_

Ron, Brick, Barkin, Wade, and the girls were discussing things that should be done, so that the loose team they had formed would be a more cohesive unit,

"Well, a name would be nice." Jessica mentioned, off handedly,

"I like Team Possible. There's nothing wrong with that." Ron stated,

"There was nothing wrong with it when it was just you and Kim," Bonnie stated, "but now, there's thirteen of us, not so much a small group of friends, as a larger team, we need something different."

"What do you think, KP?" Ron asked, hoping that at least he would get some backing from Kim, he was sorely mistaken,

"Well, things change, and times change, I think it's time for a name change." Kim stated,

"The Monster squad?" Jessica commented again, which earned several scowls from the assembled,

"Way out of place, Jessie." Ron stated,

"Well, I got only one thing to say to this one, black as night, and they fight like tigers, why not go with that?" Brick stated in an offhand manner,

"**_THAT'S IT!_**" Kim shouted, causing everyone in the room to jump,

"What's it, Kim?" Hope asked, looking at Kim as though she had lost her mind,

"Black Tigers, it's perfect." Kim stated, smiling,

"Leave it to Brick to figure something out without even knowing it." Bonnie replied, sniggering slightly,

"Brick, want to draw something up for us on that, and I'll see what I can do about having it made into something?" Ron asked,

"On it, Ron-man," Brick stated, pulling out a sketch pad, and starting to work, "although I think Josh Mankey would be a better candidate for drawing this stuff."

"News flash, bud, Josh Mankey is M.I.A., so is Felix Renton, no one's seen them for almost two months." Ron stated,

"Think they ended up vampire take out?" Brick asked,

"Not too sure." Ron replied,

"I'm not too sure about Felix, but Josh and I were supposed to go on a date the night I was attacked." Hope stated,

"When was that?" Ron asked,

"About the time this all started, he never showed up for our date, and the next thing I remember, is waking up in my house, the place had been trashed, and my parents were . . ." Hope stopped herself there,

"Dead," Ron commented dryly, "it's not just you, Hope, it was that way with almost all of you, it's kind of Dracula's policy, if he turns someone, he kills their families, so they have nowhere to go but to him."

"But, you saved Jane Renton . . . Felix would have to know that." Marcella commented,

"Not necessarily, Marcella," Ron supplied, "if she was attacked after Felix, and he was removed from the house before he could see it, then there's no way he would be aware that his mother is still alive."

"And if that happened, then he has no clue that we're looking for him as well." Kim supplied,

"Well, we are now." Ron replied, remembering something he had done with Felix only a few weeks before all this had started,

"How so?" Bonnie asked,

"Our tracking equipment came online this morning, Bonnie." Wade stated,

"Spanking." Kim stated, a huge smile playing over her features.

"Better believe it," Wade responded, "high tech, state-of-the-art satellite surveillance systems, tracking radar, and satellite based long range weapons systems, to soften up any air defenses that might be in place before you arrive at a location."

"Works for me." Ron stated, smiling somewhat,

"And you thought this all up on your own, Wade?" Shego asked,

"Duh, who else would have the time to think up stuff like that?" Wade replied,

"Wade . . . you **_DID_** get some help." Brick stated, puffing out his chest like an African bird in the middle of mating season,

"With the weapons systems only, Brick." Wade replied, a smirk coming across his face,

"Getting back on track here," Ron stated, making all eyes in the room swivel onto him, "there's a few things we need to do, for starters, we need to locate Josh, and Felix . . . find out exactly what happened to them, and where they're at right now."

"Good idea, Ron, I'll get to work on that right away." Wade replied,

"And how are you going to do that?" Mr. Barkin asked,

"Pretty simple, really," Wade began to explain, " Felix has a couple of chips attached to his spinal column that allow him to keep complete control of his cyberchair, and Josh wears a pacemaker . . . so it should be a piece of cake to find the frequencies they operate on, and track them."


	12. Chapter 12:  An Ounce of Prevention

**Chapter 12**

**An Ounce of Prevention**

_**Living After Midnight**_

_by_

_**Judas Priest**_

_Living after midnight,_

_Rocking 'till the dawn,_

_Loving 'till the morning,_

_Then I'm gone, I'm gone,_

_I took the city 'bout 1a.m.,_

_Loaded, loaded,_

_I'm all geared up to score again,_

_Loaded, loaded,_

_I come alive in a neon light,_

_That's when I make my moves right,_

_Living after midnight,_

_Rocking 'till the dawn,_

_Loving 'till the morning,_

_Then I'm gone, I'm gone,_

_Got gleaming chrome, reflectin' steel,_

_Loaded, loaded,_

_Ready to take on every deal,_

_Loaded, loaded,_

_My pulse is racing, I'm hot to take,_

_This motor's revved up, fit to break,_

_Living after midnight,_

_Rocking 'till the dawn,_

_Loving 'till the morning,_

_Then I'm gone, I'm gone,_

_I'm aiming for you,_

_Gonna floor you,_

_My body's coming, all night long!_

_The air's electric, sparking power,_

_Loaded, loaded,_

_I'm getting harder by the hour,_

_Loaded, loaded,_

_I set my sights, then home in,_

_The joint starts flying when I begin,_

_Living after midnight,_

_Rocking 'till the dawn,_

_Loving 'till the morning,_

_Then I'm gone, I'm gone._

Wade had been working for the last three days, in his attempt to locate Josh, and Felix, and didn't have much luck, until now,

"Ron, get up to the War Room, I think I got something." he called over the intercom one dreary Friday afternoon,

"On the way, buddy." Ron replied, from what sounded like the training room.

"What's up?" Ron asked as he walked into the door, the girls hot on his heels,

"I think I found Felix." Wade replied, showing Ron a holographic layout of Middleton, there was a small green dot near what appeared to be Bueno Nacho,

"Bueno Nacho, huh? Wonder what he's doing there?" Ron inquired,

"Not, sure, but from the looks of it, he's not alone, I'm registering several faint heartbeats around him." Wade commented,

"Great . . . just freaking prime." Ron grumbled, he quickly leaned over to a small red button on a console to his right, and slammed his right hand onto it.

Instantly, a loud klaxon-like alarm sounded throughout the mansion, Ron reached for a microphone attached to the same console, and spoke into it, loud, and clear,

"Emergency, all residents to the War Room immediately."

"You'd better have a good explanation for this one, Stoppable," Mr. Barkin grumbled as he entered the room, Brick right behind him, "I was grading yesterday's history homework."

"Yeah, take a look for yourself." Ron stated, pointing to the holographic image floating above the plot table,

"Looks like a vampire attack at Bueno Nacho." Barkin supplied,

"You think?" Ron stated,

"What do you need us for?" Brick asked,

"How about tactical communications, and to target the long range weapons." Ron supplied, making both men nod their heads, and take up their positions within the War Room,

"Taccon is online, Stoppable." Barkin said, powering up the sophisticated radio system that was to be used to keep communications between the team, and the mansion base,

"All defensive weapons are online. All long range weapons are ready to go." Brick commented,

"Alright," Ron replied, then, turning to the girls, he added, "okay, ladies, time to put what I taught you to the test, we're going in."

The girls all seemed to shudder slightly, but none of them shrank from this comment, instead, they all ran to the same location, the library. Once inside, Kim reached for a hidden lever behind a copy of the Venus Di Milo, and pushed it downward. Seconds later, twelve small concealed openings appeared in the walls, and bookcases that seemed to stretch the entire length of the room, the girls ran into them, and stood, looking straight ahead, the openings closed up, and a loud whooshing sound was heard, as if air had been forced through a small tube.

"It's about time you ladies made it." Ron stated, waiting in the changing room for them, the shuttle tubes the girls had ridden to the changing room had stopped just a few seconds prior, each girl now standing next to their lockers, and preparing to dress for combat.

"Well, we don't have a setup that takes us straight here, master." Zita commented rather sarcastically, now opening her locker, while Ron proceeded out of the room, wearing a new battle suit, it was red, with black trim, and fit him like a glove, showing off his toned, athletic structure nicely.

Once Ron left the room, the girls began to get dressed, all, but two of them wearing the same matching black gymnast type outfit, the long, black elbow length gloves, and the black thigh length, high heel boots,

"Okay, ladies, let's get to the weapons locker, get our stuff, and get to the hangar, time to kick some vampire biscuit." Shego stated, a strange smile coming across her face, the girls all nodded, and filed out of the changing room, to the weapons locker, where they collected their various weapons, and then, down the long hallway, to the hangar bay, where Ron was waiting, sitting behind the controls of the large black V.T.O.L. craft,

"Mount up, ladies, we're burning daylight." Ron stated, as he watched all the girls jump into their various craft, and belt themselves into the seats, at the ready for launch,

"Alright, Wade, all present, and accounted for." Ron stated,

"Roger that, prepare for countdown to launch . . . T minus 10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . **_LAUNCH!_**"

All thirteen aircraft lifted off through tubes that came out from the rear lawn of the sprawling estate that was the mansion headquarters they called home,

"Confirmed launch on all craft, I'm sending vectors to you now, Ron, better step on it, they're on the move, heading for the mall." Wade stated,

"Roger that, intel, we're on the way, alright, ladies, let's link up." Ron stated, this one simple comment set several things into motion.

First of all, Ron moved into the center of the tight knit group of craft in the air, putting himself into a position so that the other craft could dock with his.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the smaller craft began to travel into a reverse direction, and join up with Ron's craft, as they did so, the seats they were in moved into the spacious cockpit in Ron's craft, finally, when the last craft, Shego's distinctive green VTOL docked, the craft flashed a bright white, and formed into a huge kind of skycraft, modeled after the same ones that Global Justice utilizes,

"Docking maneuver complete, all craft joined up." Ron called back to the mansion,

"Roger that one, Stoppable, better put in gear, they aren't far from the mall." Barkin replied,

"Roger that . . . KP, I need vectors to the target." Ron said, looking at Kim, who was sitting in front of him, and to his left

"On it." Kim replied, now punching several buttons on the console in front of her at a quick pace, "Got a course plotted out, bank right, five, by five hundred, we should be at IP in roughly about three minutes."

"Oh, yeah, moving to coordinates now." Ron replied, grabbing the control stick in front of him, and pulling it to the right, causing the craft to bank hard right,

"We're at IP, time to land this thing, and get into the fight." Hope commented,

"Roger that, time to break off, and bring 'em down." Ron stated, once again, the craft broke into thirteen smaller craft, landing in a clearing only a few blocks from the mall,

"What's taking them so long?" Kim asked, removing her pilot's helmet, and placing it on the seat of her craft, she was looking around, as though trying to find something that wasn't there,

"They're close. I can feel 'em." Ron stated, looking straight ahead, and never blinking,

"Coming over the horizon . . . **_WHOA!_**" Tara exclaimed, looking at the small band that was charging their way,

"Looks like fang face is rolling out the red carpet for us, that's got to easily be a small platoon of blood suckers." Bonnie replied, reaching to the belt around her waist, she pulled from two attached pouches, a set of tonfa, and looked around, shortly afterward, each member of the loose team drew their own weapons, the last being Crystal, who simply dropped her hands to her sides, and watched, as her gloves began to glow with a kind of reddish light,

"Let's do it." Zita said, giving her laser whip a good crack, digging a small, narrow furrow into the ground in front of her,

"I'm all for that." Shego responded, lighting up her sword, which now glowed a bright emerald green color,

"Wait, no one attacks until I give the word, conserve your energy." Ron stated, looking at the girls, all of whom stood at the ready, tensed up like a coiled snake, just waiting for the right moment to strike,

"Easy, let them come to you." Ron said, watching Bonnie twitch slightly,

"Any pre-fight orders?" Kim asked,

"We take Felix, and Josh, if they're with them, alive, I don't care about the rest." Ron stated, getting nods from the girls, who were eyeing the closing distance between them, and their opponents,

"Give them another twenty feet, then, we'll tighten the noose around them." Ron stated, watching closely, and marking off the distance in his head,

"Come on, closer, get closer." Tara said under her breath, which was heard anyway,

"Just a few more feet now." Bonnie whispered,

"**_TAKE 'EM DOWN!_**" Ron shouted, running into the fray, as the girls all took off in his wake, the first of the girls to end up in the fight, was Zita, who had managed to lash her laser whip around the neck of one opponent, while executing a perfect midair back flip,

"**_BANZAI!_**" she shouted, tugging back on the weapon as her feet touched the ground, removing her opponents head from his shoulders, the body instantly exploded into ash in front of her,

"Time to play." Jessica commented to her opponent, who was smirking, and bearing its fangs at her, his smirk quickly turned into a look of fear, as she tugged a pair of war axes from a set of holsters on her back, and began to hack at her opponent, he never had time to react,

"You know. I hate it when they go to pieces like that." Jessica commented, wearing a somewhat satisfied smile as she watched her opponent's body explode into ash, and blow away,

"Oh, yeah, time to have a little fun." Hope stated, as she stuck her Sai daggers deep into her opponent's chest,

"Looks like I'm stuck on you." she said with a snigger, as she pulled the matching hardware from where she had so ruthlessly driven it only a few seconds beforehand,

Meanwhile, Kim was having a bit of a problem with her opponent, who seemed to be the only one that was carrying a weapon of any kind, he had knocked her to the ground with a large club more than once, and she was beginning to show her anger, her eyes had turned a deep red, and her fangs were showing quite noticeably. Suddenly, and without warning, she seemed to pick up more speed than her opponent, moving at a blinding pace, and before anyone could stop her, she had driven her Kali Sticks into her opponent's body, one through the forehead, and one through the waist, she then hoisted her opponent into the air, and threw him through a nearby plate glass window, the shattering glass cut the vampire into ribbons within seconds,

"My favorite dish," Kim commented, looking at the remains of her opponent, which exploded into ash in front of her eyes, "shredded meat."

"Come and get your spanking." Shego quipped to her opponent, who seemed a little leery to attack, he was backing away from the former super hero, as though she were carrying some kind of disease,

"Don't make me come to you." Shego remarked, now taking a couple of steps forward, her enemy backed away a couple more steps,

"Don't say you weren't warned." Shego commented, going into a series of mind-boggling back flips, by the time she had finished, her opponent lay in pieces on the ground,

"That looked painful . . . sucks to be you." she quipped, putting her sword back into its scabbard, attached to her back.

"Master. I found them." Tara yelled, she was face-to-face with Felix Renton, and Josh Mankey, Felix was standing on his feet, his legs now strong enough to support his weight, both were sporting blood red eyes, and a set of three inch long fangs,

"Knock 'em out, Tara, I don't care how you do it." Ron commented,

"Right." Tara replied, now putting away her Nunchaku, and pulling from a small pouch attached to her belt, a pair of syringes. She removed the needle caps with her teeth, and spit them onto the ground. She then prepped for an attack.

As the two charged, Tara jumped high into the air, and turned her body upside down and around in a kind of corkscrew motion, landing directly behind, and now facing her targets. She quickly jabbed both syringes into their shoulders without much of a fight, and quickly pushed the plungers down, injecting whatever she had placed into them beforehand.

"Now, you two be good boys, and go to sleep for me." she remarked, as she snapped the needles off the syringes and tossed them into a small pouch on her belt.

The attack seemed to unbalance both Felix, and Josh, who suddenly found themselves groggy, and unable to stand,

"Oh, yes, works every time." Tara said, as Josh, and Felix both hit the ground with a loud thud, placing the needless syringes into the same pouch she had extracted them from,

"What was in those?" Crystal asked, as she watched the two hit the ground,

"Oh, enough Thorazine to drop a Rhino in full charge, they're gonna take a little nap." Tara commented,

"Nice touch, seems to have done the job." Marcella replied, reaching down, and hefting Josh onto her shoulders, just as Ron took out the last of the underlings that had joined the fight with Felix and Josh,

"I don't know why master wants them. They should be taking a _dirt_ nap." Hope commented

"Let's get them back to the mansion, and see if we can do something with them." Ron stated, leaning down, and picking Felix off the ground,

"I'm not too sure what we can do for them, but we'll try something." Tara commented, now helping Marcella place Josh into what would only be described as a cargo hold, as Ron restrained Felix into a chair next to him.

* * *

_Back at the mansion:_

Monique had been working in the chemistry lab since their return to the mansion, some five hours earlier, attempting to isolate the cause of vampirism, and attempt to find a cure for it, so far, she was having little progress,

"I've tried everything, but like a poor archer, I keep missing the target." she commented to Ron, when he came down to check her progress,

"Still no luck, huh?" Ron asked,

"Nothing, I've been able to isolate the cause, it's almost like a kind of virus, it attacks the body through the bloodstream, and basically halts everything, including most vital functions, that's how vampires lose their heartbeat." Monique commented,

"It's like a viral infection?" Ron asked,

"Something like that . . . I guess you can call it the V virus . . . V for vampire, it completely effects everything at the cellular level, the longer it stays in the bloodstream, the longer your chances of a complete recovery, the more chance you have of becoming a vampire." Monique remarked,

"Symptoms?" Ron asked,

"Pretty easy," Monique remarked, "instant thirst for blood, the seizure of all vital organs . . . heart, lungs, most skin tissue, loss of skin color, and finally, nothing more than a mindless piece of undead flesh."

"And you can't find a cure for it?" Ron asked,

"I've tried everything short of complete organ transplants, so far, nothing." Monique said, pointing to the computer model she had in front of her, that showed every scenario she had tried up to that point, all with "_FAILURE_" marked across them, in big red letters, the only one that didn't, was a small space marked "_Root cause_," that had big green letters marked across it, spelling "_VIRAL INFECTION ISOLATED_."

"I think I might have an idea, Monique, but it might be a little bit risky." Ron stated,

"How's that?" Monique asked,

"Well, we could use some of my blood as the base ingredient for the cure, and just go from there." Ron stated,

"You're right that is a little risky . . . on your part, if I don't get it right the first time, there might not be a second time." Monique supplied,

"I'm aware of that, that's why I plan to give a pint to the cause, from there, we can see what happens." Ron explained,

"I still say that it's going to be a huge gamble." Monique said, now reaching for a microphone at the desk she was sitting at, she quickly removed the reading glasses she was wearing, and depressed the Mic.

"_Tara, I need to see you in the chem lab._"

"On the way, Monique." Tara replied, from what sounded like the medbay, and sure enough, a few seconds later, Tara showed up in the chem lab, still wearing the white lab coat she was known to wear when she was working in the medbay,

"I need you to draw a pint of blood from our volunteer donor." Monique stated, pointing to Ron,

"What for?" Tara asked,

"So I can see if a cure can be found for the two bloodsuckers in the medbay, that's what for." Monique stated,

"Alright, I'll be back in about an hour with the sample." Tara commented, leading Ron out of the chem lab, and into the next room over, the medbay,

"Please be gentle, Tara, you know I don't like needles." Ron mock whimpered,

"Oh, you big baby, one incident, and you get labeled for life, besides, you deserved it, master." Tara replied, rolling her eyes, and leading Ron out of the chem lab by his wrist,

"One comment, and I'm branded for life." Ron commented, in an uncanny impersonation of Tara,

"Oh, I didn't know you were into that sort of thing, if you want, I could have some branding irons made up and . . ." Tara commented sweetly, trailing off at the end,

"**_NO!_**" Ron screamed in horror, the entire time, Monique was holding a hand to her mouth, to hide the smile that had appeared there,

"That sounds like fun, Tara, I could get Wade to make up the irons, and we could get the ropes from storage, and get Shego to heat the irons up, and . . ." Monique said, now chiming in on the conversation,

"Uh . . . gottagobye!" Ron replied, taking off out of the room at top speed.

* * *

_An hour later:_

"Here you go, Monique, one bag of donor blood." Ron commented, setting the donor bag full of blood onto the desk in front of her,

"You're a lifesaver, I ran the scenarios, it might just work." Monique stated, pointing to the monitor again, the final attempt had marked, in big yellow letters: "_POSSIBLE CURE FOUND_"

"You think it might work on you too?" Ron asked,

"Not sure yet, but there is one way to find out." Monique stated, smiling, as she began to mix certain chemicals to the blood she now added to the mix, the mixture frothed, and foamed rather badly, but it settled down quickly, leaving a deep red substance in the vial that Monique was now holding, she reached over to what appeared to be a skin sample, and using an eye dropper, she dropped some of the formula onto the sample, and watched it through a microscope,

"Very promising, it seems to work for the purpose intended." Monique stated, a smile coming over her face,

"Think you can fill a couple of syringes, and get them over to Tara?" Ron asked,

"No problem, it should be injected right now, since the mixture is only effective within an hour after creation." Monique stated,

"Why an hour?" Ron asked,

"We can't chill it, if we do, the punch will be gone from it, there's other chemicals in there that can't be stored below room temperature, otherwise, they lose their effectiveness." Monique stated,

"And blood has to be refrigerated once it's out of the body, to keep it from decomposing." Ron commented,

"Yep, and unfortunately, there's enough enzymes in these chemicals to further breakdown the blood that makes up the base of this stuff." Monique supplied,

"Which means that decomposition will happen faster." Ron remarked, to which Monique gave a quick nod,

"That's why my best guess is about an hour, before this stuff is nothing more than a waste of time." Monique added,

"Alright, I'll get this over to Tara, see what you can come up with for all of you, I'll be back in a few." Ron stated, now leaving the chem lab with the antidote in hand.

* * *

_In the medbay:_

Tara was having trouble with Josh and Felix, both of whom seemed to want to bite her whenever she got too close to them, she finally had to place a muzzle over their mouths, the two teenagers looked to be younger versions of Hannibal Lecter,

"Looks like '_Silence of the Lambs_' in here, Tara." Ron commented,

"I finally got tired of them trying to take a chunk out of my arm every time I got close to them." Tara replied, scowling over at the two,

"Well, this might help out." Ron said, placing the two syringes onto the table in front of her,

"She got it done . . . way to go, Monique." Tara said, grabbing up the two syringes, and heading over to her patients,

"Do me a favor, and sit on their legs, I don't want them kicking out at me when I put this stuff in them." Tara explained, pointing to several smashed vials on the floor.

Ron nodded, and sat first, on Josh's legs, holding them fast with his body weight, Tara moved in quickly, plunging the needle into the bite marks on Josh's neck, and pushing the plunger down. Josh stiffened up, and went rigid as soon as the antidote hit his bloodstream,

"Okay, Felix, you're next." Tara commented, and the same procedure was followed, with the same results.

Within about two minutes, both teenagers had gone into convulsions, and looked as though they were in the middle of an Epileptic seizure,

"What's going on?" Ron asked, looking at Tara,

"Some kind of reaction to the antidote," Tara commented, "should pass in a bit . . . I hope."

"And if it doesn't?" Ron asked,

"Hope they got their funeral arrangements made, there can't be even a small margin of error, if there is, then they're dead." Tara explained.

It took about ten minutes before the convulsions stopped, and both of them lay limp on the tables, they at first appeared to be lifeless,

"It didn't work, did it?" Ron asked,

"Just the opposite, it seems to have worked perfectly, their heartbeats are starting to come up to normal levels." Tara responded,

"Thank God, let's hope this works permanently." Ron stated, before looking down at the two teenage men in front of him.

Felix was the first to begin to regain his color, he opened his eyes, and looked blearily around the room,

"Oh, man, where am I?" he asked, looking around the medbay,

"Welcome back to the land of the living, buddy." Ron said, smiling,

"Man, I have got to go see a man about a horse, where's the john?" Felix asked,

"Across the room, behind that door." Tara said, walking up to Felix, fully expecting to have to carry him to the bathroom, but they were all stunned, as Felix got up from his bed, and walked the length of the room, and into the bathroom, where he walked from only seconds later, and laid back down again, almost immediately, he realized what he had just done,

"Did I just do what I think I did?" he asked, looking first at Tara, then, to Ron, a look of shock, and surprise on his face,

"Sure did . . . how did you pull that one off?" Ron asked,

"I walked . . . I don't believe it." Felix said, now sliding his legs off the edge of the bed, and standing upright,

"I'm standing on my own . . . I never thought I'd do this again." Felix stated, a tear sliding down his cheek,

"Oh, man, someone want to tell that freight train in my head that the run is over?" Josh remarked, now sitting up in the bed next to Felix,

"Easy, Josh, just relax, it'll pass." Tara said, now pushing Josh back into a laying position,

"Oh, God, I got a date with Hope tonight." Josh commented, now sitting up quickly,

"You're about a month late for that one, buddy." Ron stated, smiling slightly,

"What do you mean?" Josh asked,

"Take a look at your chest." Tara explained, pointing to Josh's bare chest.

The young man looked down, and found no incision scars on his chest, nor did he find the telltale markings for his pacemaker to be charged,

"Where's my pacemaker?" he asked,

"You no longer need it, so it was taken from you." Tara stated, smiling slightly, as she held up the small device that Josh once had in his body, to help his heart to beat as it should,

"But, how did that . . ." Josh asked,

"I'll explain later, bud, right now, I think that both of you should get some sleep." Ron stated, leaving the room, and heading back upstairs, only to run into Monique, who still had her reading glasses perched on her nose,

"Oh, master . . . I was hoping I'd run into you." Monique stated,

"What's up, Mon?" Ron asked,

"I ran those tests on skin samples I got from the girls, like you asked," Monique began, "well, I got the results just a few seconds ago."

Ron looked at her, and smiled a somewhat hopeful smile, his spirits were dashed, as Monique looked at him, a crestfallen look on her face,

"Did it . . ." Ron prompted, hoping for the best, but bracing for the worst,

"It failed . . . due to the residual power you left behind when you bonded with us, it rendered the base of the antidote useless . . . for us, there's no cure." Monique replied, her head hanging.

Ron could feel his heart break again, he now knew that all hope was lost for ever returning the girls to normal, he quietly walked away, shaking his head, not allowing Monique to see the single tear slide down his cheek, and drop silently to the floor.


	13. Chapter 13:  Renewal and Loss

**Chapter 13**

**Renewal and Loss**

_**You Got It**_

_by_

_**Roy Orbison**_

_Every time I look into your lovely eyes,_

_I see a love that money just can't buy,_

_One look,_

_From you,_

_I drift,_

_Away,_

_I pray,_

_That you,_

_Are here,_

_To stay,_

_Anything you want, you got it,_

_Anything you need, you got it,_

_Anything at all, you got it,_

_Baby,_

_Every time I hold you, I begin to understand,_

_Everything about you tells me I'm your man,_

_I live,_

_My life,_

_To be,_

_With you,_

_No one,_

_Can do,_

_The things,_

_You do,_

_Anything you want, you got it,_

_Anything you need, you got it,_

_Anything at all, you got it,_

_Baby,_

_Anything you want,_

_Anything you need,_

_Any thing at all,_

_I'm glad,_

_To give,_

_My love,_

_To you,_

_I know,_

_You feel,_

_The way,_

_I do,_

_Anything you want, you got it,_

_Anything you need, you got it,_

_Anything at all, you got it,_

_Baby!_

_Anything you want, you got it,_

_Anything you need, you got it,_

_Anything at all, you got it,_

_Baby,_

_Anything at all,_

_Baby,_

_You got it!_

It had been only two days since Ron got the bad news from Monique, and so far, there seemed to be no cheering him up.

The depression he was in was absolute, most of the time, he was found in the conservatory, playing mournful tunes on the piano there, or in the training room, going through routines that seemed to get more and more reckless as time went on. His complete depression seemed to seep into every corner of the mansion, covering everything in a sad, mournful shroud that seemed to not want to lift. Even the weather was reflecting Ron's mood, becoming more and more dismal, and dank as time passed, until the heavens themselves seemed to open up, and rain on everything in sight. So far, every resident of the mansion had tried, rather unsuccessfully to snap Ron out of his funk, but to no avail, it was as though he didn't want to hear what they had to say, and this is the way he was found by Hope, Bonnie, and Shego, one dismal, and dreary morning, he was sitting in front of the piano, playing some kind of mournful tune that seemed to fill the entire mansion with sadness,

"We need to find a way to snap him out of this funk he's in, or we can all kiss our rears goodbye." Shego said to Bonnie and Hope, who quickly nodded,

"Agreed." Hope replied,

"Any ideas?" Bonnie asked Shego, who seemed lost in thought at that moment,

"Well, he helped each of us get out of a depression, now, it's our turn." Shego stated, reminding the two other girls in front of her that they at least owe Ron that much,

"We've already tried as individuals, so, it's time to try as a group." Bonnie stated, looking at the other two for support,

"Gotta agree with Bonnie on this one, going up to him one at a time didn't seem to do anything, so, it's time to hit him as a group." Shego replied, nodding her head, and smiling slightly,

"But will it work?" Hope asked, causing Shego to whip around, and look at the beautiful Chinese-American with surprise,

"My dear Hope, do my ears deceive me," she commented, "are you doubting me?"

"Well, we all tried, in one form, or another, and they failed miserably, how is this time going to be any different?" Hope asked,

"You have much to learn, young grasshopper," Shego stated, using a line from a well known tv show from the early 70's, "stick close, and take notes."

"Okay, but I'm telling you, Shego, if this works, I'll personally cook dinner for the next two weeks." Hope stated, causing Shego to smile,

"Hope you got your wok ready, girl . . . 'cause you're gonna need it." Shego replied, opening the conservatory door, and walking in, with Bonnie and Hope on her heels, it didn't take Ron long to notice that he had an audience,

"Hi." Ron stated, in a very depressed voice,

"Monique told us what happened the other day, what's with all the moping around?" Shego asked,

"I thought for sure that this would be the answer, but that all went down the drain when I was told it wouldn't work." Ron explained,

"So, you struck out this time, big deal, there's gonna be more chances, why give up now?" Bonnie asked,

"Don't you get it, Bonnie," Ron commented, then, noticing the blank look on the tanned beauty's face, he continued, "this was the last chance, there's no others."

"Master, look at us, please, just for a minute." Hope pleaded, looking at Ron, as his eyes met theirs,

"I'm sorry I got you all into this, it's all my fault." Ron stated, a single tear sliding down his cheek,

"Why are you blaming yourself for something that was completely out of your control . . . this isn't like you." Bonnie commented,

"All these powers I have, and I can't even help the ones that I love . . . why does all the bad stuff always happen to me?" Ron asked no one in particular,

"Master, you told us that there would be risks involved when you bonded with us, we all knew what the risks would be, and we accepted it, what's so bad about that?" Hope asked, now looking at Ron with a hard edge to her eyes,

"I never gave up hope that maybe, just maybe, there might be a chance that I could find a cure for you all, but now, that hope is gone, there's no way." Ron explained, now hanging his head, not wanting to look at the girls in front of him,

"Okay, so there's no cure, we'll live with that . . . we've all said that on more than one occasion, and we've made it clear that if it meant losing the bond with you, we don't want it . . . so please, just let it go." Hope begged, nearly in tears herself,

"Master, listen to me for a minute, if I hadn't bonded with you, I would more than likely be rotting in prison for some crime, but because of the bonds, my life has become so much better . . . I've got so much more to look forward to now." Shego stated, now looking at Ron, a smile gracing her face,

"If you had never bonded with us, God only knows what would be happening right now, I would more than likely still be a slave to Dracula." Hope remarked,

"Same here." Bonnie echoed, nodding fervently at Hope's side,

"Man . . . I've been so stupid, so wrapped up in my loss, I forgot about you all, why?" Ron asked,

"It happens . . . we're only human." Bonnie stated, smiling slightly,

"Easy for you to say." Ron stated,

"Yes, it is, remember, I'm only half vampire, I'm still human, even though it's only half human, I can still make mistakes, just like you can." Bonnie stated, then, she added rather quickly, "So, you made a mistake, but instead of brooding over it, why not learn from it?"

"Where did you get that kind of wisdom, Bonnie?" Ron asked, a smile lighting up his face for the first time in two days,

"Well, I had a great teacher, just as I had a great piano teacher, and an excellent Sensei." Bonnie said, a wide smile coming across her face,

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Bonnie, you all are, it's time I got back to where I belong, and did what I'm supposed to do." Ron stated, now standing up, and heading for the door, once he was out of earshot, Shego smiled, and looked over at Hope,

"Looks like you stuck your foot in your mouth, Hope." she said, an impish grin on her face,

"Yeah, I noticed." Hope replied, realizing that she would now have to cook dinner for the next two weeks.

* * *

_Later that afternoon:_

Ron was working in the garage on a project that the girls had no knowledge of, when he heard the page over the intercom system:

"_Ron, you'd better get up to the War Room, like yesterday_."

"I'm on the way, Brickster, I'm out in the garage, so it'll be a few minutes." Ron stated, now standing, and tossing a grease rag into a bin near the outer doors of the massive building,

"_Just make sure to take your shoes off at the back door, Shego just spent about three hours on the kitchen floor._" Brick replied, causing Ron to chuckle slightly.

Once Ron arrived at the tactical communications room, Brick quickly briefed him,

"Monkey Fist is up to something big." Brick stated,

"How big?" Ron asked,

"Well, he got a permit to dig somewhere in eastern Africa." Brick stated,

"Eastern Africa, where?" Ron asked,

"What was once Satsuma Province." Brick stated,

"Satsuma . . . that's Swahili for gorilla . . . gorilla worshipers." Ron stated,

"Looks that way." Brick stated,

"Did it say what he was looking for?" Ron asked, his dread hitting him quickly,

"Something called The Amulet of Binding, why?" Brick asked, watching Ron's face drain of all color,

"This is not good." Ron stated, his voice hollow,

"How so?" Brick asked,

"Well, that's the only supernatural weakness I have, if I get too close to The Amulet of Binding, it weakens my powers, the longer I'm exposed to it, the greater my risk of death." Ron explained,

"Oh, God, we got to find that thing before he does." Brick stated,

"Too late, Brickster, if Fiske is looking for it, chances are, he's already found it." Ron stated,

"But won't it affect him too?" Brick asked,

"No . . . his Mystical powers are nothing more than cheap copies of mine, a kind of smoke and mirror version of the power I carry with me." Ron stated,

"Not on the same level as you are, huh?" Brick asked,

"No, but his knowledge of the artifact locations is monestrous . . . the man knows." Ron stated,

"So, what now?" Brick asked,

"We gotta wait for him to make the first move, then, we counter . . . quick, and hard." Ron explained,

"I'll keep an eye on things up here, Ron-man." Brick stated,

"Thanks, Brickster, I need to take care of a few things." Ron stated, walking out of the room, and down the stairs, located across the hall from the room's entrance.

* * *

_Two hours later, somewhere in Ethiopia_:

Monkey Fist had been looking for some time, and had finally struck gold, when he found a large bronze box, hidden in an antechamber in what appeared to be an old temple of sorts,

"I never thought I would find this, amazing," Monkey Fist stated, opening up the box, and looking at what appeared to be a kind of necklace, with a huge pendant dangling from it, it was pure platinum, with an emerald set dead center of the ornate bauble, "The Amulet of Binding, the master will reward me well for this."

* * *

_Meanwhile, back at the mansion:_

"_Ron, better get up here, quick._" came Brick's voice over the intercom, it sounded rather forced, and very nervous,

"On the way, buddy." Ron stated, running for one of the three elevators located in the massive foyer.

"Whatcha got for me?" Ron asked upon entering the tactical communications center, or, as everyone in the house had come to call it, "_The War Room_",

"Monkey Fist is on the move, bud, he found that amulet thing, and he's heading back to the states." Brick replied,

"How do you know this?" Ron asked,

"Flight from Addis-Ababa, to Middleton International tomorrow morning, he just confirmed a ticket on it." Brick stated, now showing Ron the information he gleaned from the airline database,

"Looks like he found what he was after, this might make things a little more interesting." Ron stated, smiling somewhat,

"Interesting . . . **_INTERESTING!_**" Brick practically shouted,

"Yeah, interesting, so far, old fang face has been a bit of a bore." Ron stated, smiling even wider,

"Ron, prolonged contact with this thing could kill you . . . and all you can say is '_interesting_,' are we even living on the same planet here?" Brick asked,

"If this is planet Earth, then I'd have to say yeah, I know the risks, Brickster, and I'm ready for it, it may block my powers, but it doesn't block my skills." Ron stated,

"Yeah, but your powers are your strength, you lose them, you start to get weak, did you ever think about that ?" Brick asked,

"Of course I did, that's why I'm not going after the amulet alone." Ron stated,

"What do you plan on doing?" Brick asked,

"Time to get some eyes on Monkey Fist," Ron declared, reaching for a microphone, he called into it, very clearly, "Yori, Crystal, I need to see you in the War Room, on the double."

"What's up, master?" Crystal asked when she, and Yori entered a few seconds later,

"I got a special job for you two." Ron stated,

"What is it, _tono_?" Yori asked, nervously,

"I was just informed that Monkey boy is hopping a flight from Ethiopia, to Middleton tomorrow morning . . . I want you at the airport when it lands, and I want you to tail him, find out what's going on, then, we'll send our little spy in, and find out if there's anything else that needs to be done." Ron stated, to which, both girls smiled widely,

"We're on it." Crystal replied, grabbing Yori by the upper arm, and pulling her out of the room,

"Before you do anything, find Marcella, and get her up here." Ron stated,

"She's in the Rec Room in the basement, her and her soaps, you think she'd had enough of them after the last three days." Crystal commented, shaking her head as she did so,

"Thanks." Ron stated, pushing a button on a small console close to the microphone he was holding,

"Marcella, I need to see you in the War Room, like yesterday." Ron spoke into the microphone,

"_And this show was just getting good too._" Marcella replied through the speaker on the console,

"Urgent business, Marcella, it can't wait." Ron replied,

"_Okay, I'll be up in a bit, just let me get the tv, and the lights shut off._" Marcella replied, and loud clicking sounds could be heard over the intercom, a few seconds later, Marcella stepped out of the shadows at the far end of the room,

"You called, master?" Marcella asked,

"Sure did, how's your spy skills?" Ron stated,

"Sharp as ever." Marcella replied,

"Good, because I got a little solo mission for you." Ron stated, smiling at Marcella,

"What's up?" the Latin-American beauty asked,

"I need you to spy on fang boy for me, remember where he hid himself?" Ron asked,

"Oh, yeah . . . I'm not soon to forget it, he was hiding at the old dockside warehouses in the marina district, he might have moved since then." Marcella replied,

"Good, Monkey boy is coming back to the states on a public airline, and he's bringing something back that has the potential to end this little party real quick." Ron commented,

"What's that?" Marcella asked,

"The Amulet of Binding." Ron stated,

"What . . . I thought that was only legend?" Marcella replied, somewhat surprised,

"Yeah, so did a ton of others." Ron stated,

"Oh, great, if you get anywhere near that thing . . ." Marcella commented, trailing off at the end,

"Yeah, I know, hon, you need to keep watch on what's going on at Dracula's playhouse, don't go in unless it can't be avoided, he will remember you." Ron stated,

"I know . . . I'll make sure they don't know I'm there." Marcella replied, now walking out of the room, and heading for the stairs.

* * *

_The following night:_

Ron had been pacing the floor since the three girls left on their assigned duties, the first to return, were Yori, and Crystal,

"What happened?" Ron asked, as they shadow ported into the living room on the mansion,

"He gave us the slip . . . disappeared near Middleton Park Cemetery." Crystal recited,

"Middleton Park Cemetery . . . which entrance?" Wade asked,

"The main entrance . . . why?" Crystal asked,

"I knew it, he had to have more than one entrance to his little hidey hole." Ron stated, his face beginning to show anger, and rage,

"Well, let's hope that Marcella gets lucky, and is able to track him." Shego replied, from her seat on the sofa in the room, it was at that time, a loud beeping came over the wrist Kimmunicator that Ron was wearing on his arm,

"Go, Marcella, whatcha got?" Ron asked, looking at Marcella's holographic face floating at eye level,

"I got him entering the cemetery through the main entrance, he slipped through a drain hole on the roadside in here, but I know where he's going." Marcella replied,

"Where?" Ron asked,

"Underground, there's a maze of underground passages and catacombs all throughout the cemetery, the old grave diggers put them in so that they wouldn't be trapped should a grave cave in on them." Marcella commented,

"And they've been added onto since that time, I know all about that, Marcella." Ron stated,

"Dracula must be making his home in those catacombs down there, that's the only reason as to why he's been hard to find." Marcella stated,

"So he's moved, huh?" Ron asked,

"Kinda looks that way, he's nowhere near what I remember." Marcella replied,

"Alright, come on back to the mansion, we'll pool our info, and make a strike on the catacombs . . . tonight." Ron stated,

"Master, that would be a terminally bad idea." Shego stated,

"How so?" Ron asked,

"We'd be tipping our hand way too early in the fight, if Dracula found out that we knew of Monkey boy's little excursion into Africa, he'd hide that amulet, and we'd never be able to find it." Shego noted,

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Shego on this one," Marcella stated, now stepping out of the shadows at the far end of the room, "Dracula may be pompous, and arrogant, but he does have a wisdom that can sometimes be unexplained."

"Okay, I'll let it roll for now, but we can't put off an attack, the longer we delay, the worse the sitch becomes." Ron stated, suddenly, the telephone in the room began to ring,

"What the, I thought this phone number was unlisted, Stoppable?" Barkin asked, looking at Ron,

"It is, besides all of us, there's only two others that have it . . . Josh, and Felix." Ron stated, remembering his friends, whom he had healed earlier in the week,

"It's Renton, apparently, he has some info for us." Barkin commented, handing the phone to Ron,

"Yo, Felix, what's up?" Ron asked his best friend,

"You're not going to believe this one, Ron-man, but I just saw Monkey Fist leave the cemetery, like someone set his caboose on fire." Felix stated, the reception was somewhat garbled, as though he were on a cellular telephone,

"You on your cell, buddy?" Ron asked,

"Sure am, I'm right outside of the main entrance to the cemetery, I saw Yori, and Crystal following hairy hands, so I figured to keep a distance, and do a little observation, I just caught up to him." Felix stated,

"Did you see which way he was headed?" Ron asked,

"Sure did." Felix replied,

"Which way?" Ron asked,

"Due north, right into your hands." Felix commented,

"Got it, thanks." Ron stated, hanging up the phone, his face going the color of sour milk,

"What's up, Ron-man?" Brick asked, looking at Ron's paling complexion,

"The party's been started for us, Fiske is on his way here." Ron stated,

"Uh-oh, this does not bode well." Kim stated,

"Alright, ladies, you know the drill, time for some smack monkey." Ron stated, running to his private study, while the girls took off for the library.

* * *

_Meanwhile, just outside of the mansion:_

Lord Monty Fiske stood outside of the high wrought iron gate of the mansion complex that Ron, and his guardians called home, a wide smirk coming over his face,

"Finally, I will be able to have Stoppable's power for myself, with The Amulet of Binding, I can take it from him, and be able to kill him, as for his guardians, I shall enjoy killing them off, one-by-one." he said to himself, he then turned, and looked at one of his servants standing beside of him, "Spread the word, we attack in five minutes."

The word was spread quickly, but it seemed that the occupants of the mansion were just a little quicker, because a few seconds later, the lights went out,

"They found out . . . how?" Monkey Fist asked, looking around to shoulders being shrugged,

"Forget about that now, **_ATTACK!_**" Monkey Fist bellowed, charging over the fence, and up to the ornate front doors, once there, he saw the beautiful brass door knocker, a tiger's head,

"Foolish, to believe in something weaker than a monkey." he spat, kicking the door in, and walking into the mansion, his minions right behind him.

Once inside, there was a loud **_CLANG_** as the titanium blast panels swung shut, causing everyone that had come into the house to jump,

"**_SHOW YOURSELF!_**" Monkey Fist bellowed, his luck quickly turned, when ten pairs of crimson colored eyes turned to him, a pair of green eyes showed up behind him, and a pair of blinding, bright blue-white eyes, with no visible pupils stood directly in front of him,

"Bad career move on your part, Fiske." came Ron's ice cold voice from in front of him,

"Hardly." Monkey Fist stated, now showing an ornate amulet on a silver chain, he watched, with a cackle, as Ron's powers faded, and the lights came back on in the house.

He was now able to make out the 10 dhampir that had so rudely left Dracula only a month beforehand, another woman he knew from his criminal activities, Shego, and Yori, the Yamanouchi student that had helped Ron on the occasion he had attempted to steal The Lotus Blade,

"It works . . . **_IT WORKS!_**" Monkey Fist bellowed, smiling wider, watching Ron fall to one knee, his strength leaving him,

"Maybe on him . . . but **_NOT US!_**" Kim stated, now kicking the amulet out of his hand, Marcella quickly caught it, and smiled widely, as she crushed it in her hand, immediately, Ron jumped up to his feet, smiling widely,

"Now, you were saying?" Ron asked, reaching for his ever present twin swords, but before he could remove them from his wrists, he felt cold steel cut through the flesh on his right hand, looking at it, he noticed that he was minus two fingers,

"Oh, now that was uncalled for." Ron stated, looking at his hand,

"You can't fight with only one hand, Stoppable." Monkey Fist chortled,

"Who says I have only **_ONE_** hand?" Ron asked, watching, as two new fingers grew to replace the ones he lost,

"**_IMPOSSIBLE!_**" Monkey Fist roared, completely shocked at what he was seeing,

"No, just improbable for normal humans, but, as you well know, I'm not a normal human." Ron commented, now drawing his swords,

"Very well . . . **_ATTACK!_**" Monkey Fist bellowed at his minions, most of which appeared to be vampiric monkeys, the bulk of them were citizens of Middleton, all of which had been turned,

"**_TAKE 'EM DOWN!_**" Ron shouted to the girls, all of whom sprang into action the minute the words left his mouth,

"Okay, time to play." Hope commented, drawing her paired Sai daggers from the belt on her waist, she tossed one of them into the air, and in a very beautiful move, spin kicked it at her opponent as it began it's decent to the ground, the long dagger hit her opponent in the upper chest with enough force to send it sprawling to the floor, clearly dead, as the dagger penetrated the heart,

"I always wanted to be in lumberjack competitions, looks like I get my chance." Jessica stated, now pulling out her paired war axes, and throwing one at an oncoming vampire, taking it's head off as the ungodly instrument came into contact with it's neck,

"Looks like I get to whip you into shape, **_Butha_**." Zita commented, as she lashed her laser whip across her opponent's neck, and in one swift pull, separated head from body,

"Okay, who's my first victim?" Marcella asked, looking at two advancing minions, she suddenly locked eyes onto one, who looked frightened, she smiled, showing off her fangs,

"Oh, yeah . . . there's my bitch." she said, tossing one of her laser swords into it's body, before leaping onto it, and sinking her fangs deep into it's neck,

"What have you been eating, son, worms?" Marcella asked, gagging slightly as she stood back up, a dribble of blood falling from her fangs, to the floor, that's when she noticed the pinch of snuff under his lower lip,

"Oh, wouldn't you know it, I had to get the one that dips." she stated, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve, she then concentrated her efforts on the other remaining minion,

"Now you've gone, and done it, you little . . ." the minion barked out, he was unable to finish, as Marcella buried her remaining sword deep through it's right ear, sending blood, and brain matter out the other side,

"Scatterbrain." Marcella commented, as she sheathed her swords, and smiled widely, still showing off her fangs,

On the other side of the foyer, Monique was locked in combat with two opponents, and so far, she had yet to use her powers,

"Boys, I'm telling you, you're messing with the wrong girl." she said, smiling, her fangs were still not showing, and her eyes were their normal color.

Without warning, one of the minions picked her off the ground, and tossed her into the wall behind her, this was all the incentive that she needed,

"Alright, playtime's over." Monique said, getting back to her feet, and drawing what appeared a short stick from a wrist band attached to her left wrist, she flicked her wrist, and instantly, the small stick locked into place, and revealed a five foot long Bo Staff,

"Who wants to die first?" she asked, a sadistic smile coming over her face, her eyes had turned a deep crimson, and her fangs were showing quite noticeably.

One of her opponents must have taken offense to this, because he charged without saying a word, Monique flicked her wrist again, and a foot long blade appeared at the tip of the staff, turning it into a spear, which she drove through the oncoming minion like it was nothing more than a pin going into the body of a butterfly for a collection,

"Looks like you got stuck." Monique stated, pulling the spear out of her opponent, and sending it around to come into contact with the other's neck, separating it's head from it's body in one swift motion,

"You find a man, and they lose their heads . . . just can't keep them around anymore, can you?" Monique commented, before laughing at her own quip,

"Okay Fiske, you and me, time to end this." Ron stated, dropping into a battle stance, a sword in each hand,

"Indeed, to the death, then." Monkey Fist replied, dropping into a similar stance, and charging,

"Oops, you messed up big time." Ron stated, taking a slash at Monkey Fist's gut, and sending him to one knee, before coming back around with another swipe to the neck, taking his head off cleanly,

"And there goes the monkey . . . too bad, too." Ron stated,

"How's that?" Kim asked, still carrying an enemy in a headlock,

"I would've thought he would've been smarter than to challenge me like that." Ron replied, shrugging his shoulders,

"Oh, well, can't have it your way all the time." Kim replied, as she suddenly jerked her arm in an upwards direction, snapping her opponents neck like a dry twig, before borrowing The Lotus Blade from Ron, and taking its head off,

"Now that's what you call a real joint operation." Ron stated, taking the katanna from Kim, and placing it in its usual place.

* * *

_The following morning_:

Ron had been wondering why Monkey Fist would attack without orders from Dracula like he had done, and why he seemed to just hand the win to Ron the way he had done,

"It doesn't make sense, if I were in his shoes, I would think it a suicide mission." Ron stated,

"There had to be more than that." Marcella commented,

"I know, Marcella, I was thinking the same thing." Ron stated, it was at that moment, Brick and Wade walked into the living room on the first floor, carrying several blueprints, and plans in their hands,

"We got it figured out, Ron-man." Brick said, dropping several scrolls, and rolled up pieces of paper onto the coffee table,

"Got what figured out?" Ron asked, looking at the two with a questioning look on his face,

"External defenses." Brick stated,

"Who came up with the idea?" Ron asked,

"I did," Brick stated, "after last night's little surprise, I figured that we needed a little more firepower to protect the mansion, after all, we do have to live here."

"Okay, what's the start off for it?" Ron asked,

"Infrared sensors, placed all around the perimeter of the property, acting kind of like a second fence, if the contact between two points along the perimeter are breeched, it'll set off an alarm in here, causing the mansion to go into immediate lockdown, and activating several automatic, motion sensitive laser turrets that would be hidden throughout the property." Brick stated,

"Infrared sensors, wouldn't ultrasonics work better?" Ron asked,

"Under normal circumstances, yeah, but these aren't normal times, bud." Brick replied,

"Now, what about getting out of the mansion, should it be locked down?" Ron asked,

"That can be solved, by means of escape tunnels that can be dotted throughout the first floor, and going underground, to an off property sight about a quarter of a mile from here, or into the garage, if needed." Brick stated,

"Anything else?" Ron asked,

"With lockdown, the only way to get into any of the rooms, is with the proper access codes, everyone that is currently in the mansion would be locked in the room they would be in at the time." Wade replied,

"What about wild animals, deer, and such." Ron stated,

"If a deer can jump the fence, then he is no deer, Ron-man, that fence is over 15 feet tall." Brick stated,

"It can be set so that no animal smaller than a common rabbit would be hurt by it." Wade stated,

"Anything bigger than that?" Ron asked,

"Would be made mince meat out of by the laser turrets." Brick stated,

"That works." Ron stated, sitting down next to Kim, who was smiling,

"Looks like you came up with a good idea, Brick." Kim stated,

"Thanks." Brick replied, smiling widely,

"Who's going to install it?" Tara asked,

"I am." Brick responded, causing Ron to whip his head up to look at the well built blonde,

"You sure, Brickster?" Ron asked,

"Are you doubting my mad weapons building skills, Ron-man?" Brick asked,

"No, I was just wondering if it could be done?" Ron asked,

"Of course it can be done," Brick stated, "otherwise, I never would've drawn it up."

"Alright, go for it." Ron stated, causing Brick to smile,

"Coolness, we already got everything built, we've been working on it for about a month now." Brick stated, heading for the back door, this is when Ron noticed something happen to Marcella, who was sitting in a chair directly across from him.

No sooner had Ron turned back, than Marcella had gone rigid in her seat, like she was going into some kind of fit, her eyes had turned from their normal black, to a kind of lemon yellow color,

"Marcella, what is it?" Ron asked,

"Vision trance." Bonnie said, looking at Marcella, a surprised look on her face,

"Kim," Marcella stated, rather timidly, "it's ten o'clock, do you know where your parents are?"

"Say what?" Kim asked,

"It's your parents, Kim," Marcella stated, her eyes turning back to their normal color, "fang boy's paid them a visit."

"How bad?" Ron asked,

"Not too bad, at least, not for the moment, he's holding them hostage." Marcella stated,

"We need to get down there, and spring them." Bonnie stated,

"Hang on a second." Ron stated, he then added, rather quickly, "What about Kim's brothers, Jim and Tim?"

"Not there, something tells me that he only wanted Kim's parents." Marcella replied,

"That means they're still back at the house, let's get them here, and we'll go from there." Ron stated,

"How big of a force are we going to need?" Monique asked,

"Not very, I'd say about five of you." Ron stated,

"Who?" Zita chimed in quickly,

"Marcella, you, Kim, Bonnie, Crystal, and Hope will go to the Possible house, the rest will prepare for a full scale invasion of the cemetery's catacombs, which will commence as soon as the others get back." Ron stated,

"We'll give you a full report as soon as we get back." Bonnie said, now heading for the library, with the other four girls hot on her heels,

"Everyone else, just chill out for now, we'll wait for the rest to come back, and give their report." Ron stated, stretching out on the sofa, as Tara cuddled in close to him.

* * *

_A few minutes later, at the Possible home:_

Jim and Tim Possible had been hiding in their rooms, the sheets thrown over top of their heads, when they heard voices close by,

"Jim, Tim, where are you?" called a voice they recognized immediately,

"Kim," Jim hollered from under the sheets,

"We're in our room." Jim added.

A few seconds later, there was a scuffling outside of the room, and the sound of the door being ripped from it's hinges,

"Where are you two, show your faces." Kim stated, this made Jim and Tim pull the sheets from off their heads, and look at their sister, they quickly let out screams when they saw her.

Her powers were fully active, her eyes glowing a deep crimson color, and plainly visible, were a pair of three inch long fangs,

"Wanna turn the lights on, I hate using night vision." Kim stated, to which Jim turned on the lights,

"Thanks." Kim replied, rubbing her eyes slightly,

"Kim's a . . ." Jim began,

"Vampire." Tim finished,

"**_COOL!_**" The twins said in unison,

"I'm not a full vampire, and not so much." Kim stated, answering the twins' statements quickly,

"Then what are you?" Jim asked,

"I'm half vampire." Kim replied,

"Still cool." Tim replied,

"If you think it's cool to have to live off blood once a month, then by all means, you can have it." Kim stated, with a slight growl in her voice,

"Easy, K ." Bonnie commented, placing a hand on Kim's shoulder, and walking into the room, she leaned down at the edge of Jim's bed, and asked,

"What happened?"

"Well, we were in here . . ." Jim began,

"When we heard a racket coming from the living room." Tim finished,

"Did you get a good look, any faces?" Kim asked,

"No, it was . . ." Tim started,

"Kind of hard to see faces from around the corner." Jim finished,

"Did you hear anything, voices, by chance?" Bonnie asked,

"Yeah, there was . . ." Jim started,

"At least two people that were talking." Tim finished,

"What did the voices sound like?" Bonnie asked,

"One was . . ." Jim started,

"Deep, with a funny European accent, German, we think." Tim finished,

"That's one, what about the other?" Kim asked,

"Female . . ." Jim began,

"Never heard it before." Tim finished,

"Okay, anything else?" Bonnie asked,

"Yeah, they wanted . . ." Jim began,

"Mom and dad to . . ." Tim filled in,

"Bait Ron out into the open." Jim finished,

"So, they're using mom and dad to draw us out?" Kim asked,

"That's what it . . ." Tim began,

"Sounds like." Jim finished,

"Anything else?" Bonnie asked,

"Yeah, a few of the people they brought with them . . ." Jim began,

"Disappeared into the basement, they never . . ." Tim filled in,

"Came back out." Jim finished.

Kim quickly reached for the wrist Kimmunicator and pushed a few buttons on it real quick,

"Marcella, Crystal, Hope, get into the basement, there might be some of fang face's friends hanging out down there." she stated,

"On, it, Kim." came Crystal's voice over the speaker,

"Let's get you guys in the kitchen, so we can look you over." Bonnie stated, pulling back the sheets that Tim had hid himself under,

"Come on, tweebs, let's go." Kim stated, following suit with Jim.

Once in the kitchen, Kim did a quick once over on Jim, while Bonnie did the same with Tim,

"They're clean, K." Bonnie stated,

"Cool." Kim replied, when the beeping of her wrist Kimmunicator caught her attention,

"What's the sitch?" she asked, looking at the face of Marcella, staring back at her,

"No luck, Kim, there's no one down here." she stated,

"Did you see anything out of the ordinary?" Kim asked,

"There's a bunch of fifty-five gallon drums down here, other than that, not much else." Marcella replied,

"Rocket fuel, dad keeps a bunch of that on hand." Kim stated,

"Uh-oh." came Crystal's voice over the speaker this time,

"What?" Kim asked,

"Better grab onto anyone in the house, and get the hell out of here, **_NOW!_**" Crystal practically screamed through the speaker,

"Why?" Bonnie asked,

"This place is wired, we got about 20 seconds!" Crystal exclaimed,

"Time to go." Kim stated, grabbing onto Jim, and shadow porting out of the house, Bonnie followed close behind, they met up with the remaining three girls across the street, where they watched.

The house that Kim had called home for most of her life exploded with an Earth rumbling **_BOOM_**, sending debris, and dust everywhere. When the smoke settled, there was no longer a house standing where one once stood.

"Oh, God, everything I owned, everything my family worked so hard for . . . gone." Kim said, her voice hollow, and devoid of emotion,

"Easy, K, just calm down, and let's get these two back to the mansion." Bonnie said,

"Yeah, Tara's gonna want to check them over, make sure there's nothing wrong with them." Marcella stated,

"Kim . . . property can be replaced, lives can't, let's get back home, and get these two looked over." Hope chimed,

"Yeah . . . let's get back to the mansion." Kim said, rather mechanically, as she took Jim into her arms, and ported out of sight, the rest of the girls followed, Bonnie, taking Tim with her.


	14. Chapter 14:  End Game

**Chapter 14**

**End Game**

_**The Game**_

_by_

_**Motorhead**_

_Time to play the game,_

_**TIME TO PLAY THE GAME!**_

_Ha ha ha,_

_It's all about the game,_

_And how you play it,_

_All about control, and if you can shake it,_

_It's all about your debt, and if you can pay it,_

_It's all about pain, and who's gonna take it._

_I am the game, you don't wanna play me,_

_I am control, no way you can shake me,_

_I am heavy debt, no way you can pay me,_

_I am the pain, and I know you can't take me,_

_Look over your shoulder, ready to run,_

_Like a good little bitch, from a smoking gun,_

_I am the game, and I make the rules,_

_So move on out, or you can die like a fool,_

_Try to figure out what my move is gonna be,_

_Come on over, sucka,_

_Why don't you ask me,_

_Don't you forget there's a price you can pay,_

'_Cause I am the game, and I want to play,_

_Time to play the game,_

_**TIME TO PLAY THE GAME!**_

_It's all about the game, and how you play it,_

_All about control, and if you can shake it,_

_All about your debt, and if you can pay it,_

_It's all about pain, and who's gonna make it,_

_I am the game, you don't wanna play me,_

_I am control, no way you can shake me,_

_I am heavy debt, no way you can pay me,_

_I am the pain, and I know you can't take me._

Kim returned to the mansion only a few minutes after they had left, the other four appearing behind her in intervals, it was Ron that greeted them in the living room when they arrived, he was already dressed in his battle gear,

"How'd it go?" he asked, when he looked at Kim,

"Not too good." Bonnie said, allowing Tim to reunite with his twin,

"What do you mean?" Ron asked,

"They were already gone when we got there." Crystal replied, looking at the floor,

"There's more . . . isn't there?" Ron asked, looking at the five girls with a worried expression on his face,

"Yeah," Marcella supplied, "the place was wired, with all the rocket fuel in the basement, it went up like a volcano."

At the mention of this, the look on Ron's face became scary, making all five girls flinch at it,

"He's dead, he just doesn't know it yet." Ron commented through tightly clenched teeth,

"Master . . . don't lose it," Hope said rather timidly, "if we're going to survive this, we need your head in the game."

"I know, Hope," Ron stated, then, his attention turned to Jim and Tim, "when did the stuff back home take place?"

"About ten minutes ago . . ."Jim began,

"We were getting ready for bed when . . ." Tim added,

"When it all went down." Jim finished,

"Perfect time to strike," Ron stated, his face contorted in thought, then, he looked at Kim, "I'll need you to take your brothers down to the medbay, Tara is waiting down there to check them out, then, I'll need you to get up to The War Room, and prepare for briefing."

Kim nodded, and took her twin brothers to the elevators located in the foyer, once inside, she slid back the hidden panel where the access buttons for the lower levels were located,

"You know, dad's gonna . . ." Jim began,

"Freak when he sees you dressed like that." Tim finished, as the twins were commenting about the outfit that she was wearing, which exposed her legs from the hips, to her lower thighs,

"Not once the sitch has been explained to him." Kim stated, looking at her brothers, a slight smile creasing her face.

A few seconds later, they were in the medbay, where Tara was waiting for them, her white lab coat over top of her battle outfit,

"About time you got down here." she stated when they walked in,

"It's been a long day, Tara, I'm really not in the mood for jokes." Kim stated,

"That bad, huh?" Tara asked,

"Worse." Kim supplied, at that point, she could no longer hold back the tears, she collapsed, crying on the floor of the medical facility,

"What happened?" Tara asked, looking at the twins, who filled her in on what had happened back at the Possible home,

"Kim, at least you and your brothers are still alive, you should be thankful for that." Tara said in a comforting tone, as she attempted to snap Kim out of it,

"But we lost everything, Tara, everything." Kim wailed,

"That's nothing compared to what could've happened if you **_DIDN'T_** know what was going on to begin with." Tara explained, her eyes held a knowing look.

"Maybe you're right." Kim replied, as she finally stood up, her eyes holding a reddish tint to them, wether it was from crying, or her anger coming to the surface, no one could tell,

"Kim . . . you and master have dealt with this sort of thing in the past," Tara commented, "So you lost the home you grew up in, that doesn't mean anything, homes can be rebuilt, lives can't."

"You're right, Tara, I'm just being stupid." Kim stated,

"No, you're not, you're acting like someone that has just lost everything . . . but you haven't, you still have all of us." Tara explained,

"Thanks, Tara." Kim said, her voice genuinely appreciative of having her '_sisters_' to help her out of a time like this,

"Hey, we're sisters, remember." Tara said, smiling brightly,

"I know." Kim said, a smile starting to break out over her face,

"Now, let's get you two looked over." Tara stated, turning her attention to Jim and Tim.

* * *

_Later on, in The War Room:_

Ron was going over the battle plan to everyone in the room,

"We go in through the manhole located near the main entrance of the cemetery, and work our way to the central area of the catacombs, hopefully, we can come up with some answers." Ron stated,

"Either that, or we end up dead." Shego supplied dully,

"Hardly, Shego," Ron stated smiling, "I have no intentions of dying tonight."

"Easy for you to say . . . you're immortal." Bonnie stated,

"I'm not the only one in this room." Ron stated, a knowing smile coming over his face,

"What do you mean by that?" Crystal asked,

"Did you ladies forget what you are?" Ron stated,

"We're half vampire, so what?" Hope asked,

"And that half is enough to make you immortal." Ron replied,

"What about me, and Yori?" Shego asked,

"When I bonded with you all, it slowed your aging down, like me, you won't age past twenty-five." Ron stated,

"That means that I've already stopped aging." Shego stated, smiling widely,

"How so?" Kim asked,

"I'm already twenty-five." Shego replied, smiling even wider,

"I have seven more years before I stop, then." Yori stated, smiling, knowing that she and Ron were at the same age, right down to the minute,

"Now, back to the business at hand." Ron stated,

"Okay . . . first question, how are we going to get there?" Shego asked,

"Easy enough to answer," Ron replied, "there's thirteen motorcycles out in the garage, just waiting to be used."

"Chances are, Dracula is going to have his minions watching the cemetery for us, what happens if we get there, and we run into that?" Crystal asked,

"Something I already factored in," Ron stated," I had the motorcycles modified, they're actually two-wheeled weapons platforms, each one carrying concealable .50 caliber machine guns."

"Nice." Hope replied, to the nod of the other girls in the room,

"Any pre-fight orders?" Kim asked,

"We take the Possible's out of there, alive, if conceivable, the others, take them out . . . believe me, you'll be doing them a favor." Ron stated,

"What about fang boy?" Marcella asked,

"Leave him to me, I'll deal with him myself." Ron stated, his eyes flashing a bright blue-white, before returning to their normal color.

_Later that night, around midnight:_

Two minions were walking around the front entrance of Middleton Park Cemetery . . . their orders, to kill anything that seems out of the ordinary, so far, nothing but a few squirrels, out looking for a late night meal,

"What did we get stuck out here for again?" One of them said to his partner,

"You heard the master . . . he's expecting an attack tonight, so, we got to be on our toes for anything." the other replied,

"So, who do you think would be com . . . " he began, he was unable to finish, as a bluish colored boomerang found his forehead, and cleaved it open.

At that moment, it was as though the gates of hell opened up, and swallowed the cemetery whole, as thirteen motorcycles appeared out of nowhere, and jumped the small guard rail near the entrance,

"**_TAKE NO PRISONERS!_**" Ron screamed, as he summoned The Lotus Blade back into his hand, jumped off his custom 2005 Harley V-Rod, and began running after the first minion he saw.

The girls quickly followed suit, jumping off their motorcycles, and drawing their weapons as they did so.

It wasn't quite the fight that Kim, or any of the others had anticipated, as the resistance was rather light,

"This is just too weird." Kim stated, as she expertly removed the head of the minion closest to her by using her own brute strength to separate it from its owner's body,

"Something's not right, there should be more." Crystal echoed, now pushing her right fist through her opponent, and ripping his heart out of his body, it was at this time that Dracula's trap was sprung, before anyone could move, Kim was grabbed from behind by a pair of hands, and pulled through a small portal,

"**_KIM!_**" Shego shouted loudly, reaching out for her '_sister_,' she was able to wrap her hand around the pretty redhead's leg, but the grip of the person dragging her through the portal was too strong, and only seconds after getting a good hold, Kim's leg was wrenched from her grasp.

"**_NO!_**" Shego screamed even louder, finally getting Ron's attention,

"Shego, what's going on ?" Ron asked, for answer, Shego pointed to the ground, to Kim's abandoned weapons, suddenly, Ron's ears turned bright red, resembling curls of raw beef,

"Now he's gone too far." Ron commented, his voice was calm, but it held an icy edge to it that made Shego shudder violently,

"What do you plan to do?" Shego asked, all too aware of the answer,

"I'm going down there, find Kim, free her, and her parents, and put that rat sucking son-of-a-bitch in a serious hurt locker." Ron stated, his body beginning to show his anger, as a pale blue aura began to light up around him, sparks of electricity shooting from his fingertips,

"We're going with you, master." Crystal responded,

"Not needed, Crystal, this is personal now, he's messed with one of my ladies, now, he's gotta pay the piper." Ron replied,

"Master, we are your guardians, it is our duty to go with you." Marcella stated, reminding Ron of the prophecy,

"I already lost one of you, I don't want to lose another." Ron stated,

"If we die in battle next to you, then we die with honor, master, that is our duty, and nothing in the world can change that." Jessica stated, in her usual warrior manner,

"Okay . . . fine," Ron finally relented, looking back at the eleven remaining girls, he then added very quickly, "don't believe anything you see down there, he'll do anything to throw you off your game, don't allow him to get into your head."

"We understand." Shego replied, with a quick nod, and a smile.

* * *

_Later on, in the catacombs:_

Ron, and his warrior guardians were winding their way through the maze of catacombs, looking for even the faintest sign of Kim, when Ron's wrist Kimmunicator went off,

"Talk to me, Wade." Ron asked, looking at the tech man of the group with a major frown on his face,

"Ron, if you, and the rest of the girls are at the cemetery, what is Kim doing on top of Mt. Middleton?" Wade asked,

"Say again?" Ron asked,

"The microchips that Brick and I installed into your battle gear, I picked up Kim's life signs, at the top of Mt. Middleton, it's almost like she shadow ported there, but her vitals show no signs of it, heart rate, and breathing are still normal." Wade replied, his look, one of complete puzzlement,

"That's weird?" Crystal stated,

"You're telling me, usually, when you shadow port, your vitals drop dramatically." Wade stated, his face still in a puzzled expression,

"Maybe I can help you out on this one, buddy, she was tandem ported there." Ron stated,

"That would explain the sudden surge of dark energy I registered there just before I saw Kim reappear at Mt. Middleton." Ron stated,

"Give us the coordinates, Wade, time to pay our little friend a visit." Ron commanded, looking at Wade with a hard look in his eyes,

"Coordinates are point Delta Tango eight one niner, better step on it, if Dracula starts the ritual, we're all screwed." Wade stated, his voice becoming excited,

"We're on it, Wade, we'll call back when this is over . . . Ron out." Ron replied, shutting off the wrist Kimmunicator,

"What's the next move?" Crystal asked,

"Time to pay a visit to Mt. Middleton." Ron stated, and in a flash of blue-white light, he was gone, shortly followed by another flash of blue white light, and nine beautiful women disappearing into the shadows.

* * *

_At the entrance to a cave on the side of Mt. Middleton:_

Ron was standing near the entrance of a huge cave, peering in, he could feel the dark energy emitting from inside, as he walked in, he was hit with a chill breeze that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up,

'_Jackpot . . . now, where are you?_' Ron asked himself, looking around in the pitch blackness of the cave, he suddenly switched gears, knowing that his power was harder to pick up from the standpoint of a dark creature, he decided to use his night vision.

Within a few seconds, his eyes began glowing a dull blue, and his vision became clearer,

'_Now this is the only way to go._' Ron stated to himself, that's when he saw it, an elaborate alter in front of what appeared to be the gold coffin that started this whole mess, Ron waited for the right time to strike, it would need to be when Kim is placed on the alter, before the ritual is begun, Ron could not allow Dracula to even begin the first words of the incantation, if he did, than all hope was lost.

'_Come on, death breath, bring her into the room, I'm getting tired of waiting already._' Ron commented to himself, Ron quickly looked to his right, and saw Kim's parents being led out of a side door, both seemed to be in a trance like state, as though hypnotized by something,

'_Great, they're enthralled, that's the last thing I need._' Ron stated to himself, finally, his wish was answered, and Kim was led into the room, kicking, and screaming, pleading with her parents to get her loose,

"Mom . . . dad . . . it's me, Kim, please, help me out here." Kim begged her parents, then, suddenly, Ron heard Kim's thoughts clearly in his head,

"_Master, I need help, please, come, and get me out of here._" Kim's pleading voice rang into his head,

"_Don't worry, KP, I'm already here._" Ron replied telepathically,

"_Thank God above, master, I'm scared._" came Kim's voice in his head,

"_Just listen to me, and you'll be fine, whatever you do, _**_DO NOT _**_allow him to start the incantation, find a way to keep him quiet long enough for me to come into play_." Ron responded,

"_I'll try._" Kim replied, her telepathic voice seemed strained, as though she had been fighting non stop for the last twenty hours, she sounded very tired, as though she was going to be unable to stave off the attack that was about to assault her mind.

Ron waited silently for his target to appear, and a few seconds after Kim was led into the room, Dracula followed, dressed in some kind of ceremonial robes, mostly black, but adorned with Satanic symbols,

'_Oh, this is just sick, and wrong._' Ron stated, as he watched Dracula move toward Mrs. Possible, and cut off her clothing, that was it for Ron, he could take no more of the defiling of the family he knew, and loved like his own, he drew both of the mystic swords that were always in his possession, and swung at an outcropping of rocks near him,

"Knock, knock." Ron stated, in an almost lazy manner,

"**_YOU!_**" Dracula bellowed, seeing Ron standing near the entrance,

"Yes, me, got a problem with it?" Ron asked, his voice becoming icy, and cold, it was enough to make Kim shiver where she lay, nearly rooted to the spot in fear, she had only felt like this once before, when Drakken, who had been turned, had attempted to drain her of her very life force,

"You are so incorrigible, where did you learn that from, boy?" Dracula asked,

"Years of practice." Ron replied, now dropping into a battle stance,

"You want to fight . . . you are so impudent . . . Do you really think you can defeat me?" Dracula asked,

"Bring it, and find out." Ron replied, still ready to strike,

"First thing's first, minions, attack." Dracula called out rather lazily, both of the elder Possible's began running toward Ron, looking severely shocked, he shook his head, and said, in a very sorrowful tone,

"Dr.'s P. . . . Forgive me for what I'm about to do." he whispered, seconds later, Ron shot a huge pulse blast at both of the Possible parents, sending them sprawling backwards, into the stone wall of the cave, the resulting crash caused a cave-in, meaning that the entrance was sealed from normal means of entrance, and exit, everyone inside was effectively trapped,

"Only one way out, death breath, and that's through me." Ron stated, smiling,

"Very well, let's see who you fair against the twin demon swords." Dracula calmly stated, drawing a pair of black bastard swords, and charging at Ron, who parried nicely, and came across with a slicing motion across the undead Prince of Darkness' back,

"Nice try, Drackie-boy, but not good enough to even put a dent in me." Ron smirked,

"We'll see, boy, your end is near." Dracula stated, now standing up, he had yet to be touched in combat, yet an eighteen year old boy was kicking his ass, this was definitely a new experience for him,

"Something new, huh?" Ron asked, looking at the questioning look on Dracula's face, as he pulled a hand covered in his own blood to his face, "Never been hit in a fight before, huh? Well . . .**_GET USED TO IT!_**" Ron bellowed, as he started his own charge, again, he was able to cut Dracula open, across the chest this time, but Dracula got in a blow of his own,

"I should ask you the same question?" Dracula challenged, as he smiled, showing off his fangs, Ron looked down at his chest, and saw the wound across his chest, he concentrated his power to heal, but something was wrong, the wound wasn't healing,

"Nice one." Ron stated, smiling awkwardly,

"The demon swords prevent you from healing, Stoppable, so, why don't you give it up, life will be so much easier on you if you joined me." Dracula stated, still smiling,

"Hardly, you already know the answer to that, bloodsucker." Ron seethed, there was no way he was going to let this undead nightmare win this fight,

"So be it, to the death, and for what, a bunch of human lives, you are so far above them, you should rule over them, like the God you are." Dracula stated, attempting to entice Ron into joining him,

"That's what makes you and me different, you think you're untouchable, I know better, and therein lies your weakness." Ron stated,

"I **_AM_** untouchable, boy, no one, human, or otherwise, can defeat me." Dracula roared,

"Looks like you're developing a selective memory in your old age, stupid." Ron stated, causing Dracula to become enraged, and charge at his foe with everything he had, soon, the swords were flashing brightly, as they collided with each other in the air, the sparks they were shooting off were amazing, and they lit the cave up with eerie red, green, and blue flashes as they met time, and time again, neither one getting the upper hand, until Dracula snuck in under Ron's guard, and drove both swords into his stomach.

Ron screamed out in pain, never letting go of his prized swords, as his body was pulled from the ground,

"You've lost, boy, now, tonight, the Mystic Warrior of Light will be no more." Dracula stated on a cackle of mad laughter, followed by loud hissing,

"Think . . . again." Ron grunted, as he raised his swords, without warning, he suddenly struck, separating Dracula's head from his body.

The surprised look on Dracula's face was quickly replaced with unrelenting fear, as he felt the Lotus, and Orchid Blades sink into the flesh of his neck, after that, nothing more, as his body exploded into ash.

Ron stumbled to the coffin that was the regeneration station for Dracula's power, he pulled the swords roughly from his abdomen, and began swinging his swords at the coffin frantically, denting, and dinging it up, finally, Ron stepped back a few feet, and tossed a monestrous pulse blast at it, blowing it apart within seconds, he then walked up to Kim, and freed her arms, and legs from the alter,

"Sorry I took so long." Ron stated, smiling weakly at Kim,

"You didn't take long, master, you were right on time, as always." Kim replied, as she took Ron into her arms, and began to cry, that's when a loud rumbling caught their ears, at the same time, Kim's parents reappeared from where they had fallen, both grabbing onto their heads, completely oblivious of the imminent danger they were in

"Oh, shit . . . **_CAVE IN!_**" Ron shouted, grabbing onto a very naked Mrs. Possible, while Kim grabbed onto her father, they both ported out of the cave with no time to spare, as the entire ceiling came crashing down, sealing it off completely,

"Tara, look them over, I want to know how bad they are, and what needs to be done to get them back around." Ron stated,

"On it, master." Tara stated, separating herself from the crowd, and rushing up to Kim's parents, pulling off her medpack as she went,

"Shego, status report." Ron commented, looking at the raven haired beauty, who smiled,

"All present, and accounted for, master." Shego replied, a smile on her face,

"Works for me, Marcella . . . what's the status of the bikes?" Ron asked,

"Well, Brick went out with the trailer, and picked them up at the cemetery, some of the bikes got some minor paint scrapes on them, but nothing that can't be repaired." Marcella replied,

"Okay, Crystal, get hold of base, tell them . . . mission accomplished." Ron ordered, looking at the beautiful African-American near the back of the group,

"On it, master." Crystal replied, bringing her right arm up to her face, where she quickly ran her finger over some buttons in rapid succession, after a few seconds of excited chatter, she turned, and looked at Ron,

"Message received, they'll have the medbay standing by to receive any injured." Crystal stated,

"Coolio." Ron replied, finding a seat on a small rock outcropping, and looking at Kim's parents,

"Well, I suppose explanations are in order." Ron stated, looking at one, then the other,

"Oh, yeah." Mrs. Possible replied, now holding a bathrobe closed around her naked form,

"For starters, how did we get here?" Mr. Possible asked,

"Why am I naked?" Mrs. Possible asked,

"And why is my daughter, along with all of these girls, calling you master?" Mr. Possible asked,

"Well, I'll try to answer as best as I can." Ron stated, and he began to explain what had happened in the days leading up to where they were now, how Kim had been turned into a vampire, how Ron bonded with the girls, how, because of his bond with them, he was able to halt the spread of vampirism in their bodies, how Dracula had taken them from their home, attempted to rape Mrs. Possible, the fight that ensued, and the final death of Count Vlad Dracula,

"And that's pretty much it." Ron finished, somewhat lamely,

"Are you sure this isn't one of your stories, Ron?" Mrs. Possible asked,

"I wish, I really do." Ron replied, before the pain set in, the wounds he had received from the fight had begun to bleed anew, the red liquid running down his body in rivers,

"Oh, man, I feel tired." Ron commented, rather weakly, as his body hit the ground,

"**_MASTER!_**" the girls all shouted in unison, rushing up to Ron's side,

In next to no time, Mrs. Possible was next to Ron, looking the young man over,

"Oh, God, this man's bleeding to death, we need to get him to a hospital, now." Mrs. Possible stated, her command presence in medicine coming into play,

"We can't lose him now, not after all of this, we just can't." Kim stated, her voice cracking slightly,

"No, it's just too much, please, do something for him." Shego pleaded, looking at Kim's mother, her eyes starting to well up with unshed tears,

"I'll do what I can, he's not dying on me." Mrs. Possible stated, in a very strong, and confident voice,

"I got a medical evac on the way, Mrs. Possible, they're going to take us straight to the mansion." Tara stated, as she came to Ron's side to help out in any way she could,

"I just got off with Wade, he's got the mansion on high alert, they'll be ready for him when we arrive." came Hope's voice from the back of the crowd,

"I can't believe that we went through all we did, just to lose our master now." Kim stated, still looking at Ron's face, which had turned pale from loss of blood, none of the girls wanted to see their fallen master this way, but yet, somewhere, in the backs of their minds, they felt, as long as he still had a heartbeat of any kind, than there was still that chance that he would make it.


	15. Chapter 15:  A New Beginning

**Chapter 15**

**A New Beginning**

_**We Are the Champions**_

_by_

_**Queen**_

_I've paid my dues, time after time,_

_I've done my sentence, but committed no crime,_

_And bad mistakes, I've made a few,_

_I've had my share of sand kicked in my face, but I've come through,_

_And the beat just goes on, on, on, on,_

_We are the champions, my friends,_

_And we'll keep on fighting, 'till the end,_

_We are the champions, we are the champions,_

_No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions,_

_Of the world._

_I've taken my bows, and my curtain calls,_

_You've brought me fame, and fortune, and everything that goes with it, I thank you all,_

_But it's been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise,_

_I consider it a challenge before the human race, and I never lose,_

_And the beat just goes on, on, on, on,_

_We are the champions, my friends,_

_And we'll keep on fighting, 'till the end,_

_We are the champions, we are the champions,_

_No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions,_

_Of the world,_

_We are the champions, my friends,_

_And we'll keep on fighting, 'till the end,_

_We are the champions, we are the champions,_

_No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions._

Ron woke up slowly in the med bay, his head pounding, fit to burst,

"What hit me?" he asked, looking around,

"About time you woke up." Tara commented from her desk, she was wearing her white lab coat over a set of violet slacks, and a matching violet blouse,

"How long have I been out?" Ron asked,

"A week." Tara explained,

"A week . . . wow. Fang face must've done a real number on me." Ron commented,

"Yeah, he did, you almost bled out in the mountainside, you got lucky that Kim's mother hadn't been turned." Tara explained,

"Remind me to thank her sometime." Ron supplied dully,

"Now, lay back down. I'm going to give you something to ease the pain." Tara stated, pulling out a syringe, and sticking Ron in the shoulder with it.

A few seconds later, as promised, the pain seemed to leave Ron's body, as he fell back asleep.

* * *

_Three days later:_

Ron met the girls in the foyer, tonight was a special night, the first time Kim's parents were coming over for dinner. Ron and Shego had spent all afternoon in the kitchen, preparing the perfect meal of a standing rib roast, complete with all the trimmings,

"I hope they like what we got planned." Shego commented, as Ron turned to her, a big smile on his face,

"They ought to, it's one of Mrs. Dr. P.'s recipes I used." he supplied,

"She'll notice, then, master." Kim commented, smiling,

"I hope so, it's the best one I could find." Ron replied, his smile fading somewhat,

"Penny for your thoughts?" Hope asked,

"Well, I was just thinking, with the old bloodsucker gone, what's next for us?" Ron asked,

"To be honest . . . I really don't know, but maybe it's better if we don't know too much." Hope replied,

"Are we disbanding?" Bonnie asked,

"No way, sweets," Ron stated, "there's still enough supernatural activity out there to keep us busy for centuries." Ron replied, smiling,

"How so?" Kim asked,

"Well, put it like this . . . you got Lycans, Demons, ghouls, and spirits of all shapes, and sizes, just waiting for some unsuspecting human to stumble onto them . . . that's where we come into play." Ron stated,

"So, what you're saying is . . ." Marcella trailed off,

"Once you're a Black Tiger, you're one for life." Ron stated, a serious expression on his face.

* * *

_Later on in the evening, during the meal:_

"So, what you're saying, Ronald, is that the girls' minds are linked to you by some kind of supernatural bond?" Mr. Possible asked,

"That's about the size of it." Ron replied, smiling somewhat, then, noticing the questioning looks on the elder Possible's faces, he added, "Something's on your mind, let's hear it."

"Well, with the bonds, we were wondering if the girls were completely subservient to you." Mr. Possible asked,

"Oh, definitely not . . . I pounded it into their heads early on that they had their own minds, and to feel free to use them as they see fit, I was able to break them of the servant/ master thing, but not completely." Ron stated,

"What do you mean, _not completely_?" Mr. Possible asked, his eyes narrowed,

"I can't get them to stop calling me "_master_," no matter what I do." Ron related, a frustrated look on his face

"There's more, isn't there?" Mrs. Possible asked, looking at Ron with an expression that meant only one thing, he was busted, big time,

"Well, yeah, tons more." Ron replied, tilting his head to one side, and placing his right hand behind his neck, a look that told everyone at the table that Ron was hiding something,

"What are you hiding, Ronald, out with it?" Mr. Possible said, now looking at Ron sternly,

"Well, now that they're my guardians, I have to marry them, every one of them." Ron stated, turning very red as he said the words,

"I almost pity you, Ronald, thirteen wives, man, it's going to be painful for you come that time of the month." Mr. Possible stated,

"**_JAMES!_**" Mrs. Possible scolded,

"**_DADDY!_**" Kim shouted,

"Mr. Possible that was completely disgusting, you do know that." Tara stated, her fork had stopped at her mouth when the subject was crossed, and she was now looking at Kim's father with a repulsed look,

"But true." Mr. Possible replied,

"Not so much." Ron replied,

"How's that?" Mrs. Possible asked,

"Well, because of their current conditions, they don't go through that any more." Ron pointed out,

"How so?" Mr. Possible asked,

"They're Dhampir, as I'd told you back on the mountain." Ron stated,

"Yeah, but what difference should that make?" Mr. Possible asked,

"Well, because their bodies only have half the blood they once had, they're unable to go through that experience anymore." Ron explained,

"You mean, that Kimmy can't . . ." Mrs. Possible trailed off,

"Oh, not that, they can still produce children, they just don't have the body functions of a normal woman anymore." Ron responded quickly,

"I can still be a grandmother . . . there is a God." Mrs. Possible sighed, as she looked up at the ceiling of the ornate dining room, a dreamy expression on her face,

"I think you just put her into her own little world, Ronald." Mr. Possible stated, looking at his wife, and smiling,

"Well, I may just put her even further into that world." Ron stated,

"How's that?" Mrs. Possible asked,

"Well, Barkin and I got to talking last night, and we decided that we still need some help, there's only so much that Barkin and Shego can do here, and we just don't have the manpower to run after twelve very energetic women all day, and well, we need some help looking after the stable, so to speak." Ron said, somewhat quickly,

"I don't see a problem with it." Mr. Possible stated,

"Me neither, in fact, I rather enjoy the idea of having ten more daughters." Mrs. Possible stated, smiling widely,

"_Whew!_ Glad that's out of the way." Ron stated, wiping his brow, as though he were wiping sweat from it,

"Now, we have a question, Ronald, who's going to rebuild our house?" Mr. Possible asked,

"No one." Ron replied, to the shocked looks of all present,

"**_NO ONE!_**" Mr. Possible shouted,

"Where are we going to live?" Mrs. Possible asked,

"I got that taken care of, Mrs. Dr. P., that's why I said no one will rebuild your house, because I plan to give you one of mine." Ron commented, making all eyes swivel onto him,

"What do you mean, _give us one of yours_?" Mr. Possible asked,

"Well, besides this mansion, a also happen to own the old Palmer townhouse downtown, I'm willing to give it to you, and everything that's in it." Ron stated,

"What's the catch?" Mrs. Possible asked,

"None, just that you live there, and make it your own." Ron replied,

"We can do that." Mr. Possible replied, a grin on his face,

"Just one thing before you move in . . . no more rocket fuel in the basement . . . put it in the shelter behind the house." Ron stated, causing both of the Possible parents to break out in huge smiles,

"You're serious, aren't you?" Mr. Possible asked, his smile still in place,

"Very serious, so serious, in fact, that I took the liberty to sign over the deed, and abstract to you this morning, you are now the proud owner of the townhouse at number 27 Palmer Avenue." Ron stated, producing a small black book, a set of house keys, and an envelope, he quickly handed them over to Kim's parents,

"Thank you." Mrs. Possible said, as tears began welling up in her eyes,

"No, thank you, if it weren't for you, I'd be dead, I can't thank you enough for that." Ron stated, a genuine smile coming across his face.

* * *

_A month later, at a ceremony at the rose garden of The White House:_

Ron and his guardians had gotten permission from The President to follow through with their marriage plans, and this was going to be a first in the last fifty years, a legal multiple partner marriage, the provision banning polygamy in the country was overlooked for this one occasion, even though no one knew why, but there were two present at the wedding, besides the parents of the brides, that knew the truth behind the marriages, they were the President herself, and Dr. Director, head of Global Justice, niece of The President of The United States, and the boss of those involved, even if they were freelance, and worked for the highest bidder, no one knew of their true purpose in life, as supernatural investigators. That was kept locked up as a matter of national security, and was classified to only two.

It was by invitation that the ceremony took place at the rose garden of The White House, and that the President herself looked over it as the presiding official, being the fact that she was the highest government official in the nation, she was authorized to preside over weddings, which gave her an authority unmatched by most private citizens, outside of the clergy, and judges.

"And now by the power vested in me by the people of The United States of America, I now pronounce you, husband, and wives . . . Mr. Stoppable, you may now kiss your brides." The President stated, and she watched, with humor in her eyes, as Ron went down the line, kissing all thirteen girls, before finishing with Kim, his lips red, and puffy, as Kim laid a massive kiss on him,

"And what God has wrought, let no man, put asunder . . . ladies, and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure, as your President, to present to you, Mr, and Mrs. Ronald Stoppable's." The President proclaimed, as Ron finally found his position near the center of the alter, the roar of approval from the audience was deafening, as several people, most of them people that Kim and Ron had helped out during their years as Team Possible, and some of the relatives that remained of the girls, they had only showed up to the wedding because of interest, the only relatives that weren't present, were Shego's brothers, who had a falling out with their sister because of her criminal activities, which she was given a full pardon by the President, and granted amnesty by Interpol only a few weeks ago. They were unwilling to pitch in, and help the new brides, and groom out, instead, choosing to leave after the ceremony was over,

"Don't let it get to you," Bonnie stated, as she saw her sisters, Loni, and Connie walk away from the ceremony in a huff, "I really don't consider them family anymore."

"But, Bonnie, they're your blood." Ron stated,

"Maybe so, but I'm well rid of them . . . you have no idea how bad they treated me over the years." Bonnie replied,

"Any ideas on a honeymoon?" Marcella asked, smiling up at Ron,

"Sure do . . . how does Hawaii sound to you ladies?" Ron asked, looking around at his several wives, and smiling,

"Sounds like a winner." Kim stated, prying herself from her parents, and rejoining her new husband, next to her '_sisters_,' and smiling widely,

"Alright, I got a charter booked for nine o'clock tonight, with luck, we should arrive at Honolulu International in about ten hours." Ron replied, smiling,

"What about a hotel room?" Hope asked,

"The Honeymoon Suite at The Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki Beach, it's only something in the neighborhood of three thousand a night, but well worth it for all of you." Ron replied, smiling, and with that, Ron, and his guardians left for the reception, which was to take place at The MCI Center, and from there, they would board the plane, on their way to their honeymoon in beautiful Hawaii.

* * *

_Later on, at the reception:_

Ron was lined up with his brides, to receive his guests, once inside, they walked to a small area that had been set up for pictures, after that, it was the traditional first sip of champagne, and the first dance of the new "_family_,"

"This should be interesting." Ron stated, as he looked at his brides, finding it hard to choose which one would get the first dance, he finally stopped in front of Kim,

"Do you mind?" Ron asked, as Kim smiled, each woman was wearing a similar white, floor length gown, with a matching veil, and long, elbow length gloves, Ron was dressed just as nicely, in a silver-grey tuxedo, with a full tailcoat, and a shawl style collar on the jacket, the dovetail collar on the pleated shirt was closed by a white necktie, and he was wearing a silver vest to complete the look.

Ron led Kim out to the dance floor, and they began a slow dance that was perfect for them, after that song was over, Ron began to take turns with each of his brides, leading them to the dance floor, until the last one, Marcella, was in his arms, dancing for what seemed like forever, but, like even the best of times, all good things must sooner, or later end, and the dance ended on a very high note, as Ron brought Marcella in for a very low dip, that nearly had the top of her head scraping the floor.

"Give it up for the Brides, and groom, people!" the DJ hollered over his Mic., as Ron pulled Marcella up to a standing position once more, it was at that time, Marcella went back to the others, and began chatting animatedly with them, Ron couldn't make out what they were saying, so, he decided not to even try.

Over in the Bride's corner, the girls were bent low amongst themselves, Tara had in her hand twelve straws,

"Now, here's the deal," Tara stated, starting off the plan, "I got twelve straws in my hand, one for each of us, whoever draws the shortest one, gets the honor of being with master on the first night of the honeymoon."

"Sounds like a winner to me." Hope replied,

"Won't be no arguments that way." Shego added, looking at her eleven '_sisters_' for support,

"Okay, if there's no one that objects," Tara began, "let's do this."

And one-by-one, each of the girls drew out one straw, until finally, it was decided who would be first out of the blocks to be with Ron on the first night of their honeymoon,

"Congratulations, Hope, you got the honors, have fun." Tara stated, looking at Hope, and smiling,

"Honors . . . man, I should be the one that's honored . . . there is a God, and he loves me." Hope stated, a devilish smile on her face.

_**END

* * *

**_

_And now, it's time to give thanks, and credit where it's due, first, and foremost, half the credit for writing should go to:_

**_Dragonmaster4381:_**_ This idea was his, as well as mine, even though I did the writing for it, we both hammered out the plot, concept, and most of the dialogue for it_.

**_Dareon Blackoak:_**_ He helped out with the last four chapters, after Dragonmaster became incapacitated, and gave some pretty good ideas for certain scenes along the way, hats off to him._

**_Classic Cowboy:_**_ He also came up with some good ideas for this story, as well as the second story in what has become a three part series._

**_Captainkodak1:_**_ He helped out in some certain areas of the story, if you look real close in some places, you can see his sense of humor poke it's head out here, and there._

**_Commander Argus: _**_He typifies the kind of fan base that I've become used to here on this site, always ready to give some words of encouragement, and constructive criticism here and there, and to point out where things seem to be going away from the plot._

_And finally, big shout out to a friend of mine that is not registered on this site:_

**_Eddie Butler III:_**_ Even though he's not on this site, he is one person that I have trusted with several cover arts of several stories that I have either written myself, or, had a hand in doing._

_Until next we meet, may your luck always be good, and may you always get exactly what you want._

_As always, keep the reviews coming,_

_**Doug**_

_We _**_DO_****_NOT_**_own Kim Possible, or Count Dracula_

_Doug4422_

_&_

_Dragonmaster4381_

_a.k.a._

_Epic Quest INC. _


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